New Beginnings
by katwinchester
Summary: A continuation of my story Reunions and Conspiracies. This is about the rebuilding of Torchwood, post CoE. How new team members Molly and Jamie fit in and how Jack and Ianto learn to relate to each other again. Mentions seasons 1,2 and 3.
1. Chapter 1

New Beginnings.

A/N. This is a continuation of my first story Reunions and Conspiracies, which is post CoE. It will mention seasons 1, 2 and 3. Thank you to everyone who reviewed that story and said that they would like me to continue on. Reviews as always are much appreciated.

This first chapter is mainly just setting the scene, but I do have plenty of plans up my sleeve. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Jack, Ianto, Gwen or anything else Torchwood related, but Molly is mine.

Chapter 1.

Jack came out of his office and surveyed the scene around him. It had been six months since he had returned and decided to rebuild Torchwood, the Hub was almost complete. He had called in many favours with people to get it done so quickly, but he had wanted to get back to some of sense of normality, well as normal as Torchwood could be. In many ways the Hub was the same as it had been before, but there were slight differences in it's layout to signify that this was a new start for everyone involved. There was work still to be done, the medical bay was one such area, but as they still had no medic it wouldn't have been of much use anyway. He was working on finding someone, but in the meantime Martha Jones had said she would step in and help if they needed someone. Jack looked at his watch, Ianto and Molly would be arriving shortly. Ianto was still staying at Molly's, which Jack hated to admit, made him a little jealous. It was the fact that they were so close that got to him sometimes. He knew that they were just friends, and that there had never been anything more between them, but he wanted to be that close to Ianto. Molly had been there for Ianto when Jack hadn't, and this meant that they had forged a close friendship. As for Jacks relationship with Ianto, it was getting stronger as they spent time together, but as Ianto was still to regain his memory properly it was difficult. Jack could have stayed lost in his thoughts for a while longer, except the alarm sounded as the cog door opened. He smiled, he loved hearing that sound, he then realised that the two people coming through the door were arguing.

'Just drop it will you.'

'Look Molly…'

'I said no, and I meant it.'

'But…' Ianto was obviously trying to talk to Molly about something, but you could tell by her tone she was in no mood to listen.

Molly turned to look at Ianto, 'Just leave it, I'm not talking about it anymore.' She then turned and walked away towards her computer, pausing only to say 'Morning Jack' as she walked past him.

'Trouble in paradise.' Jack joked as Ianto walked towards him.

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'No, it's nothing,' he said as he headed towards the kitchen, and started making the teams morning coffee. Jack followed him.

'Didn't seem like nothing.'

'I just broached a subject that I shouldn't have.'

'Really, can I ask what it was.'

'I really shouldn't say anything, it's not my place, and I've already put her in a bad mood. If she thinks I've told you about it, I don't want to think of the consequences.' Ianto shuddered inwardly, he had only once before got on Molly's bad side, and that time she had retaliated by switching all the coffee in the flat and at the office they had previously worked in with instant decaff, because she knew how much that would bug him.

Molly was sat at her computer, she disliked starting the day in a bad mood. She was trying to focus on her work to forget about the argument she had been having with Ianto. Molly still had trouble believing she was actually working for Torchwood, especially after swearing she would never get involved with this line of work, and after turning down many job offers from UNIT. She had finally been persuaded and she had to admit so far she was enjoying the job. The only problem she was having was with some of the programming. Molly had been able to resurrect many of the old programmes that they had used from files that were on Gwens computer. Molly had to admire Tosh who had written these programmes, she had been extremely clever and Molly was sad that she would never get to meet her, they would have probably got on well. The programme Molly was having most trouble with though, was the Rift predictor one. Molly had got it working well enough to tell when a spike was actually happening, but predicting them in advance was a lot harder. The alarm sounded again, and in walked Gwen.

'Morning.' she called, as she walked over to her workstation.

'Hey.' Molly said. She liked Gwen, they had started to get on fairly well once they had got used to each others company.

Ianto then appeared from out of the kitchen carrying a tray with steaming mugs of coffee on it. Jack was already holding on to his. Ianto went to Gwen first, and handed her her mug, for which he received a grateful smile. He then went over to Molly. 'Peace offering?' He said passing her the mug.

Molly smiled. 'Thanks. I'm sorry, I over reacted.' She stood up and gave him a hug. Gwen exchanged a look with Jack, but Jack just gave her a look that said 'don't ask'.

'So' Gwen said 'Is everyone still ok for this evening?'

'Sorry I can't I already have plans.' Molly said. Every now and then Gwen had them all round for drinks and a meal. It was her way of trying to get them to balance the weirdness they dealt with all day with something normal, and since she had had her baby, going out was harder, so she had them round to hers. Molly did enjoy these evenings, but sometimes she felt like a spare part.

'Oh right, your friends hen party', Gwen said. 'I hope it doesn't end with her waking up in the morning nine months pregnant with an alien.' She noticed Molly's puzzled look and said, 'Long story.'

'It should be fun, I haven't seen some of them in a while.'

'Hen party? Sounds like fun to me' said Jack with a glint in his eye.

'You are most definitely not invited.'

'Is there a theme?' Gwen asked.

Molly blushed slightly, 'Yes, but I'm not telling you what it is, and there will be no pictures.'

'Come on, I think we have a right to know.' Jack said, then something occurred to him, he turned to Ianto. 'Do you know what it is?'

Thankfully for Ianto the Rift alarm sounded. He breathed a sigh of relief and went over to Molly's workstation.

Molly was bringing up the details on the screen. 'Ok there was a Rift spike in the park., close to the playground.'

'Right, Gwen and Molly come with me, Ianto I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the monitors and police radio.'

The two women picked up their rucksacks which had all their equipment in them, and followed Jack out of the Hub. They walked to the car park and got into the black SUV. It had been the first thing that Jack had replaced, it wasn't quite as well equipped as the old one yet, but they were working on it. It was a short drive to the park, even shorter with the speeds Jack drove at. As they were driving Ianto spoke over the comms. 'Just thought you should know, the police are on route to your location, apparently there were calls about a body.'

'Great, just what we didn't need.' said Jack and he put his foot down on the accelerator a bit harder.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and put this story on alert, it is much appreciated. Enjoy this chapter and please review. :)

Chapter 2.

When they reached the park, the police were already there. There was a cordon keeping a small crowd away from an area near to the playground. As they got out of the SUV they could just make out a body lying on the ground, and somebody leaning over it. When they reached the cordon, Jack said 'Torchwood' and they were let straight through, although Molly was sure she heard someone making a snide comment. They walked over to the body and the man leaning over, examining it. He stood up when he saw the three of them approaching. Gwen and Molly passed appreciative looks at each other as this guy was cute, tall, blonde and had piercing blue eyes. Jack looked at them and said 'Gwen, you go and speak to the police, see what they have, Molly, go speak to any witnesses.' Both of them turned to go and do what Jack had asked them, but he was sure one, if not both of them had muttered 'not fair.' He smiled and walked over to the blonde guy.

'Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood. You are?'

'Dr West, police medical examiner.'

'So, what can you tell me about what's happened here?'

'Well, my initial findings suggest he was attacked by some kind of wild animal, poor guys been ripped apart. Never seen anything like it though, and I don't think the sort of animal capable of doing this would be found wandering about the park. It's a complete mystery.'

'Before you take the body, I'm going to need blood and tissue samples. Also I will need a full copy of your autopsy report.' Jack said. Now he really was lamenting not having a medic, he knew he had been slow in getting one, but it's not like Torchwood could advertise like conventional workplaces. He was going to have to let the police take this one, and just hope Dr West didn't discover anything too strange, although worse case scenario Jack could retcon him.

'Why do you want samples? I can run any test you want me too.' Dr West said.

'There are some that only we have the equipment for. Just let me know when you have them ready.' Jack then walked away and headed towards where Gwen and Molly were.

'Got anything?'

'A couple of people were around at the time of the incident. They said there was a flash of light, and they heard that guy screaming. No one knows who he is, as he wasn't with any of them, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

'Did any of them see what did it?'

'Not exactly, they said they saw four shapes, but they didn't get a good look.'

'Great, so four vicious killers have come through the Rift from God knows where, and we have no idea what they are, not even a description.'

'Just like old times then.' said Gwen.

Just then Dr West came walking over to them. 'Here you are, the samples you wanted.' He passed them to Jack and then turned to the two women. 'Hi, I'm Dr West.'

'Gwen'.

'Molly.'

'Nice to meet you Gwen and Molly. If there's nothing else I'll be taking the body now.'

Jack nodded to him and he turned and walked away. 'You're letting him take the body?' Gwen asked.

'It's pointless us taking it, unless you want to do the autopsy?' Gwen shook her head. 'I have samples that we can run back at the Hub to see if there's any trace of what we are dealing with.'

Without anything else to go on they headed back to the SUV so that they could return to the Hub.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back at the Hub, Ianto was waiting for the others to return. He sat at one of the computers trying to see if there were anymore reports of something strange that could be connected to what had come through the Rift. He wanted to be out with the others, but he tended to be the one that got left behind, and he got the feeling that Jack was doing it on purpose. He wasn't having any luck with what he was doing so he got up and moved to the kitchen. He wanted to find some aspirin to try and get rid of the headache that was niggling in the back of his head. Ianto knew exactly what caused this, and it was a lack of sleep. He had not slept properly for the last three nights, kept awake by the haunting images he kept seeing when he did drift off to sleep. The problem was the images didn't make any sense to him, they were obviously memories trying to get through. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know what these memories were if he was having such a hard time remembering them. Just as he was walking back into the main part of the Hub, the alarm sounded as the cog door opened, and Jack, Gwen and Molly came back in.

'Did you find anything?' He asked as they came towards him.

'Nothing useful, except some poor guy was torn to shreds.' Molly shuddered at the memory of the guy who was all torn apart. 'We have samples to test though, and I'm going to see if I can locate any residual Rift trace. You never know the autopsy might turn something up.'

'Yeah and I bet you girls will be fighting over who goes to pick up those results.' Jack grinned as he looked at Gwen and Molly who both blushed slightly. Ianto just looked puzzled.

'Am I missing something?'

'You just missed out on these two acting like schoolgirls when they saw the police ME.'

'He was cute, and don't tell me you never noticed.' Gwen said.

'Nope, can't say i did.' said Jack smiling.

They set to work with what little they had. Jack and Gwen set up the samples so that they could be tested for anything strange, it would take a while though because the technology for this was still a work in progress, nothing like they had before. Ianto and Molly tried tracing residual Rift energy, but there was nothing, it was like whatever had come through just vanished into thin air. It was starting to get late when Jack said, 'We might as well call it a night, there's nothing here at the moment, and I can transfer the Rift alarm to my wrist strap so if anything happens in the night I'll know. Plus I believe we had plans.'

'Are you sure, there's got to be other things we can look at,' Molly said.

'We're at a dead end at the moment, maybe once the autopsy report comes in tomorrow morning we'll have something. Anyway don't you have a hen night to get ready for.' Jack said grinning at her.

'Well if you're sure, I do need to go and change.'

'Of course. What was the theme of this party again?' Jack asked not too subtly.

Molly just smiled, 'You all have a good evening and I'll see you tomorrow.' She then left.

Gwen turned to Jack and Ianto, 'So, are you two coming with me?'

'Gwen, would you mind if I gave it a miss, it's been a long day and I have a headache. Can we reschedule?' Ianto said, he didn't want to be anti social, but he wasn't really in the mood for an evening at Gwen's.

'That's fine,' Gwen said. 'You ok?'

'Yeah, I just need to catch up on my sleep.'

'I take it that you're out too then Jack.' Gwen said turning to him, knowing full well that if Ianto wasn't going to be coming, Jack wouldn't either.

Jack shook his head, 'No I think I better drive Ianto home.'

'You don't have to do that, I told you I'm fine.'

'I want to make sure, there's no ulterior motive. Honestly.' He added when he saw the way the others were looking at him.

'Ok then, see you tomorrow.' Gwen said and then left the Hub. Jack and Ianto followed not long after. They got into the SUV and for once Jack drove at a fairly normal pace, he still broke a few speed limits, but for him it was quite calm. When they got to the flat, Ianto let them both in, and then went to put the coffee machine on. Molly had already gone out.

'So,' Jack started, and Ianto wondered what he was going to say. 'Will you tell me now what this theme is Molly's keeping so secret?'

Ianto smiled, 'Molly's friends work at the hospital, they were going out dressed as nurses.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Molly was not exactly thrilled with what she was wearing, although thankfully her dress wasn't as short as some of her friends. She had suggested alternate ideas, but to no avail. She had known Lucy since school and so went along with what she wanted, it was her night after all. Molly headed to the bar to get more drinks, leaving the other girls outside. They were getting pretty drunk, but as Molly was the one getting the drinks, they hadn't noticed she had switched to soft drinks. While she was standing at the bar she heard a familiar sounding voice.

'Is this your night job?'

Molly turned to find herself looking at the doctor from the park this morning.

'What… Oh no, hen party.' She said pointing to the others outside. 'Believe me, I wouldn't dress like this if I didn't have too.'

He smiled at her. 'It was Molly, right.'

'Yeah, Dr West?'

'That's right, but call me Jamie, I'm not working now.'

'Me neither', Molly said laughing.

'Can I get you a drink?' Jamie asked.

'No I'm ok, I have to get theirs too. Thanks though. Are you here with friends?'

'Yeah just a couple of work mates, problem is they can only talk about work, which is a little annoying.'

As Molly went to reply she was interrupted by a scream coming from outside. She turned to look, and saw that everyone who had been drinking and smoking outside, were all now frantically trying to get back inside the bar. For a minute she couldn't understand what was going on, but then her attention was caught by movement on the other side of the road. There were two shapes moving towards the fleeing people like predators with prey in their sights, and they definitely didn't look human.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N. Thank you to **Ravenja70, CantThinkaNuffin, rosieposy, CalliM and Trackstar211 **for your reviews and to everyone who has put this on alert. Reviews do help me to post quicker. :)

Chapter 3.

Molly stood frozen to the spot for a moment while chaos erupted around her. She quickly gathered her thoughts and walked towards one of the windows to get a better look at whatever was outside. The two shapes she could see were tall, and they had long arms with razor sharp talons at the end. It suddenly made sense why the guy in the park was so torn up. Molly couldn't help but wonder where they had suddenly appeared from, then she saw they were still heading towards the bar. Molly rooted through her bag for a minute until she found her phone, she was going to need backup. She pushed 2 and waited.

'Jack.' she said when it was answered the other end, her voice full of urgency.

'Molly?' said Jack. 'What's wrong.'

'I think I have an idea of what came through the Rift earlier.'

'Ok, how?'

'Because I'm looking at it. I need you to get down to the bar on the Quay as fast as you can.'

'I'm on my way. Don't do anything.' Jack said and he hung up.

Molly hoped he was quick, because it wouldn't take those creatures much to get inside the bar, and then it would be like an all you can eat buffet. 'Why did they have to find me when I'm not working.' she mused.

'Do you think this is connected to what happened in the park earlier.' Molly jumped a little as Jamie spoke to her, she had forgotten he was there.

'Possibly, I've phoned for help.' Then to her horror she realised that there were still people outside, and they were trapped inside a car. The two creatures were next to them trying to get inside. Molly knew she was going to have to do something, she couldn't just stand there and watch. The problem was she didn't have a weapon on her, she was only just learning how to use a gun properly and never took one out of the Hub with her. She did have some weevil spray in her bag, but didn't know how well that would work, she took it out anyway. She went over to the bar and asked the barman if he kept anything behind there in case of trouble, but all he had was a cricket bat. Molly knew that this would be pretty much useless, but she felt better for at least having something to hit with. She just hoped that Jack's manic driving would get him there before they did her any damage, and she tried to forget that he had told her not to do anything. Molly made her way to one of the fire exits which was furthest away from the main door where everyone was gathered. 'Ok,' she thought to herself, 'I just need to distract them long enough for the people in that car to get out and into the bar.' As she reached for the handle on the door she felt someone grab her arm.

'You can't really be thinking of going out there?' Jamie asked her incredulously. 'Look I've heard the stories down at the station about Torchwood and how you deal with weird stuff, but you're not exactly equipped for facing those things are you. You have a bat and what looks like a can of mace or something.'

'Look I can't just stand in here while those things open up that car like some kind of tin can, and then proceed to rip those people apart. Jack should be here soon, I just need to distract them.'

Jamie looked at her and saw the determination in her eyes, he knew nothing was going to stop her. 'I'm coming with you.'

'What?' It was Molly's turn to look incredulous. 'No, you need to stay in here.'

'I am not letting you go out there alone, two of them, two of us.'

'Why would you help me?'

'I can't just stand here and watch either.'

'You do realise that we are about to do something highly dangerous and possibly quite stupid.'

'Yeah, and weirdly that doesn't put me off.'

Molly smiled at him, 'Come on then, remember we just need to distract them, if they get too close, get back in here. Ok?'

'Don't let the vicious creatures too near me, check.'

'Let's go.'

Molly and Jamie went out of the door and slowly walked towards where the two creatures were working there way through the metal of the car like it was paper, another few minutes and they would be through. Molly gave Jamie the bat so at least they both had some form of weapon. As they got nearer the creatures obviously sensed their presence and stopped trying to get into the car, instead turning their attention to Molly and Jamie. One went straight for Jamie, who took off running away from the bar, in an attempt to lead it away, and it followed him. The second one followed Molly who was really regretting the fact that she was wearing heels and not trainers. Molly managed to look around and see the people who had been trapped in the car, get out and get inside the bar. She then realised that the creature that had been following her, had disappeared, probably didn't like all the effort of chasing her. Molly turned and ran back towards the bar, but was stopped dead in her tracks when both the creatures suddenly appeared in front of her. 'Damn' she thought. She sprayed the weevil spray she still had in her hand at the one closest to her, disorientating it. The other one however made a grab for her, she felt its talons slice her arm and she fell as she jerked away from it. In the distance she could hear the screeching of tyres, but she knew Jack was not going to get there in time. Then just as she thought it was all over someone grabbed her hand and pulled her up, and out of the way just before the creature lashed out at her again. It was Jamie. As they turned to run back towards the bar the SUV came careering round the corner, it stopped abruptly and Jack and Ianto both got out of the car, weapons in hand and began firing at the creatures. The bullets hit them, but didn't seem to make much of an impact, the only thing that happened was that the creatures disappeared.

'You ok? Jamie turned to Molly, 'You're bleeding.'

Molly looked down at her arm, 'It's just a scratch, it would have been worse if it had grabbed me properly.'

'Let me look, it might need stitches.' Jamie examined her arm, then said. 'It just needs cleaning up, I have a first aid kit in my car, I'll go get it.'

As Jamie walked away, Ianto came rushing over to her. 'Molly are you ok?' he said his voice full of concern.

'Yeah it's not as bad as it looks.'

Then Jack came striding over. 'I thought I told you not to do anyth… he trailed off as he reached them and realised what Molly was wearing, he raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

'Stop staring, focus.' Molly said.

'Sorry, I was just thinking that maybe I could implement some kind of uniform policy into Torchwood.'

'Do that and I think you would have a mass walk out on your hands' said Ianto.

'Ok fine, spoil my fun.' Jack said. 'What happened? Does trouble just follow you.'

'Funny. One minute everything was fine, I was waiting at the bar waiting to get served and the next minute all hell broke loose with people screaming and trying to get back into the bar. I looked out and I could see these two shapes on the other side of the road. It was weird they seemed to just appear from nowhere. They had these really long talons on the end of their arms.' she shuddered with the memory. 'It wasn't until I got close to one that I could see they also had really sharp teeth and their eyes were red. They look part animal, I'm going to have nightmares for a week.'

'So what made you come out here, unarmed, and tackle them. It was reckless.'

'Don't you think I know that. I'm sorry, but there were people trapped in that car and I wasn't going to stand by and watch them get torn apart.'

Jack looked at her, he couldn't be angry with her for going out there to help people, its what he would have done, but the hated the thought that she could have been killed, as it was she was hurt. He then noticed someone walking back over to them, the doctor from this morning. He went straight over to Molly, and started to dress her arm. 'Dr West,' Jack said, 'what do we owe this pleasure.'

'Jamie, just saved my life. If he hadn't pulled me out the way when he did, a scratched arm would be the least of my problems.'

'Jamie, on first name terms are we? Jack said grinning at them.

Molly rolled her eyes. Jamie answered. 'Dr West sounds so formal when your not working.' He then turned to Molly. 'There you go, it should be ok in a few days.'

'Thanks', Molly said.

'You came outside as well?' Ianto asked Jamie.

'I couldn't exactly let her come out here on her own could I? Well, I suppose I could of, but my conscience wouldn't have allowed it.' He looked at Ianto, realising he hadn't seen him before. 'I take it your Torchwood too?'

Ianto nodded, 'Ianto Jones,' he said holding out his hand.

'Jamie West, though I think you may have gathered that.' said Jamie taking his hand and shaking it.

'Great, now we're one big happy family,' said Jack, 'We need to find out what the hell these things are.' They then heard in the distance the sound of police sirens. 'Great police.'

'I'll deal with them.' said Jamie.

'Really?' said Jack. 'How.'

'I'm sure I can come up with something, although if I do this I'm going to need some answers.'

'Deal. Tomorrow morning I will tell you anything you want to know, but I'm going to need that autopsy report. '

'Fine, where should I meet you?'

'Café on the Plass, at 9am.'

Jack then watched as Jamie West walked away to meet the police that were now pulling up. He was thinking to himself that he may have just solved the problem they had of not having a medic.

'Come on, I think you need to go home.' Jack said to Molly. 'Tomorrow morning we can start researching what you saw.'

'Where do you think they went though?'

Jack shrugged. 'I don't know, they obviously didn't like getting shot at. Hopefully it was enough to scare them away for the rest of the night.'

'I hope so.'

The three of them walked back to the SUV, and as they did Molly turned to where Jamie was talking to the police. She could see that he had noticed her so she gave a small wave and mouthed 'thank you', before getting into the car.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, very much appreciated. :)

Chapter 4.

The next morning when Molly got into work, she set about trying to sketch what she saw the night before. When Gwen came in and was filled in on what had happened, she went over to Molly and gave her a hug. 'You ok?' she asked.

'I'm fine, just a sore arm.' Molly replied, holding her bandaged arm out.

'You were lucky. I heard Dr West was there.' Gwen smiled as she said this.

'He may have helped,' said Molly laughing. Both women then got into a conversation about the various merits of the doctor, when Jack came out of his office.

'Right, I'm going to meet Jamie West at the café. I want you to keep researching what Molly saw last night. Hopefully Jamie won't take too much convincing to come back here and help. Although I'm sure the thought that Molly's here will convince him.'

Molly rolled her eyes, 'I doubt it.'

'I don't know I think he's taken quite a shine to you, I mean why else would he would go out into a dangerous situation like he did last night.'

'Maybe he just wanted to help.'

'Yeah, well I think he has a crush. Thought playing the hero would impress you.'

'Whatever. Anyway I have work to do.' Molly turned and walked away towards her computer, passing Ianto on the way who was just coming from the kitchen.

'Was it something I said?' Jack asked, Gwen just shrugged.

'Don't you have a meeting to go to?' Ianto said as he walked up to them.

He was right Jack did have to leave, he was already running a little late. He left the Hub and walked over to the café just across the Plass. Jamie West was already waiting for him inside. Jack ordered himself a coffee and went and sat down opposite him.

'Morning.' said Jamie.

'Morning. Did you bring that autopsy report?'

'Straight down to business, fine. It doesn't really say much you don't already know. The guy, who we still don't have an I.D for, was basically ripped to shreds. Officially I have put it down to a wild animal, although as last night proved that's obviously not true. How's Molly?'

Jack smiled to himself. 'She's fine, lucky you were there.'

'So what's going on? What were those things last night?'

'Honestly I don't know yet, we are working on it. It should hopefully be easier now we have a proper witness description.'

'Ok , so you don't know what it is, how about where it came from?'

'There is a Rift through space and time that runs through Cardiff, it came through that.' Jack just came straight out with the truth, and the reaction of the man in front of him would tell him what to do. If Jamie thought he was nuts and freaked out he could retcon him, if however, he chose to listen there could be hope for him.

'So it's an alien?'

'Yeah. You seem to be taking it rather well.'

'Well even I could tell it wasn't exactly human, although I was leaning along the lines of a scientific experiment gone wrong.'

'Interesting idea. So would you be willing to help us out?'

'Why would you need me, I know nothing about aliens.'

'I need someone with medical knowledge, and you've proved yourself more than capable in a dangerous situation.'

Jamie thought about this, he wasn't totally sure he wanted to get involved with Torchwood, but there was something that just compelled him to find out more.

'Ok, I'm in for now.'

Jack grinned. 'Come on then, work to do.'

They got up from their seats, and Jamie followed Jack out and across the Plass to the water tower, which had also been rebuilt on Jack's insistence. This was mainly so he could have the invisible lift back. They stood on the step and Jack activated the lift. Jamie just stood there for a moment wondering what on earth was going on when the step started to move. Jack just smiled at Jamie's look of amazement, he loved showing visitors in this way.

'Impressive.' said Jamie as he looked around at the Hub as the lift descended.

'It will be when its finished properly, some areas still need work.'

When the lift reached the bottom, they stepped off and were joined by Gwen.

'Hi.' She said.

'Where are the others?' asked Jack.

'Molly is at her computer, and I think Ianto is in the archives.'

'Have you found anything?'

'No it's going painfully slow.'

'Ok, take Jamie here and show him around, then get Molly and meet me in the boardroom in fifteen minutes. I'm going to find Ianto.'

Gwen and Jamie headed off towards the main part of the Hub, while Jack took the stairs down to the archives, or to what passed for the archives as there wasn't a lot in there right now, but Ianto was doing his best to sort out what there was. When Jack got there he could see that Ianto had his back towards the door. Jack walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulder, making Ianto jump slightly.

'Sorry, didn't mean to make you jump.' Jack said and he kissed him softly on the forehead.

'It's ok, I just never heard you come in.'

'Ianto, are you sure you're ok?' Jack asked. Ianto was looking tired, and had been withdrawing to the archives a lot. He could tell something was bothering the younger man, but he didn't seem to want to talk to Jack about it.

'I'm fine, just still not sleeping properly.' Ianto hesitated, he wanted to be able to talk to Jack, but for some reason he just couldn't. It had been a while now since they had been reunited and he knew he could trust Jack, yet there was something still holding him back.

'Well, there's a doctor upstairs, maybe you should talk to him' Jack said grinning.

'You bought him here. He must have made a good impression.'

'I think he can be helpful, and we'll see how it goes from there. Anyway I said we would meet in the boardroom.'

'Ok, I'll be there in a minute.'

Jack turned and started to walk towards the door, when he reached it he turned back and said. 'Ianto, you do know you can talk to me right? About anything'

Ianto looked at him and nodded. 'I know.'

Jack walked back up into the main Hub, and into the boardroom, Gwen, Molly and Jamie were already there. Ianto followed a moment later.

'Great place you've got here,' Jamie said, 'Although your medical bay needs some work.'

'Anything you need, just let me know. Molly, any luck tracking down what you saw last night.'

'No, but the databases are still incomplete. I'm currently working on updating them, while searching for what I saw, it's taking time.'

'Gwen, how about those samples we were running.'

'There was nothing obviously strange about them, but I'm running them again.'

'Ok, maybe Jamie can help you with that.'

'I've been looking at what we have in the archives too, and there's nothing in there.' said Ianto.

'Great, so we are exactly where we were when this thing came through the Rift.' Jack sat down in his chair looking annoyed.

'Forgive me if this is a newbie question, but I take it you can't tell when it's going to appear?'

'No. We can tell when something comes through the Rift, but at the moment we can't predict when they will come through, technical difficulties.' Molly said. 'Thing is though, these creatures are already here, so that makes it more difficult. Look at last night, one minute there was nothing there, next alien.'

'There has to be something that attracts it to places.'

'Possibly, but then we need to wait and see what it does next to establish a pattern.' Gwen said, 'But that could mean more casualties.'

'Gwen, I want you and Jamie to work on those samples, also Jamie take Gwen through the autopsy report. Ianto and Molly I want you to keep working on the databases. I have some calls to make.'

They spent the rest of the day going through all the information they had. Molly and Ianto thought they had found some promising leads in the database, but none of them led to finding out what kind of creature they were dealing with. Nothing seemed to have all the characteristics that Molly had seen. Gwen and Jamie had been looking back at all the data from the blood samples and hadn't identified anything out of place. Jack had called Martha to see if she could look in UNIT's database, but again came up with nothing. Jack was getting frustrated at not being able to find anything, and it was getting late.

'Right,' Jack said when they had all gathered in the Hub. 'Tomorrow morning we are going back to the places where this thing has been. There has to be some evidence that's been overlooked.'

'Do you want me to come along too.' asked Jamie.

'Yes, you and Molly can go back to the bar, retracing what happened. Gwen and I will go to the park.'

'Great, so I get stuck here again.' Ianto said.

'Sorry someone has too.' Jack said. He knew he was being unfair, but he was avoiding putting Ianto in the field as much as possible.

They started to leave after that. Gwen left to go home to see Rhys and Mary. Ianto started to walk towards the door, calling back to Molly, who was talking to Jamie. 'Are you coming?'

Jamie looked between them for a minute, then said. 'Sorry if I'm keeping you. Do you two have plans?'

'No, we live together, so it is easier to go home together.'

'Oh I didn't realise you two were…' he trailed off.

'What. No we're not together like that, just flatmates. It's a really long story.' Molly said smiling.

'You will have to tell me sometime.'

'Maybe. I have to go.' Then Molly left with Ianto.

Jamie followed not long behind, reflecting on the day, what had happened and everything he had learnt. He was looking forward to tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N. Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter, hugs to you all. :) I hope you like the next chapter.

Chapter 5.

Ianto rolled over and looked at the clock on his bedside table, it was 2.30am. He groaned to himself, he was wide awake and didn't think he was going to be able to get back to sleep. He decided to get up and go into the lounge. He sat on the sofa and put the TV on low to see if that would help him fall back asleep. He had no idea what he was watching, just some unknown film. He wasn't sure how long he had sat there before he heard footsteps, he turned and saw Molly walk towards him, her duvet wrapped around her.

'I'm sorry, did I wake you?'

'It's ok, I heard the TV on and figured you couldn't sleep, although its been along time since you've actually got up and had to put something on.'

'I couldn't stand lying there just staring at the ceiling.'

'Do you want a drink, hot chocolate?'

'I'd prefer coffee.' Ianto answered smiling.

'Then you will never sleep.' Molly laughed. She went over to the kitchen and made two cups of hot chocolate, then went over to Ianto and passed him one. She then sat beside him and moved the duvet so that it was covering both of them. 'Which dream was it?' Molly knew that most of Ianto's memories came back at first through dreams, but only the really bad memories kept him up like this. Ianto just looked at her and he had a haunted look in his eye.

'It's the one you can't help me with.'

'The one that involves Torchwood London?' Molly guessed. Ianto nodded. Molly sighed, the only thing they knew between them about Torchwood London was that it had been destroyed while Ianto worked there and he had survived it. Molly had meant to ask Jack what he knew about what had happened there, but it had never really needed looking into before now. They had been concentrating on remembering things that had happened in the most recent years, but these memories were now obviously trying to get through. 'Do you recognise anything in the dream?'

Ianto stared at the TV, he really didn't want to have to talk about what he was seeing because somehow that would make it more real. He began twisting the duvet in his hands. 'I don't know really, it's all a jumble of images.'

Molly took one of his hands, 'Look, you can tell me, it might help.'

'It's not just the images though, it's…' He hesitated, Molly squeezed his hand reassuringly. 'I think I did something really bad.'

'I don't believe that.' Molly said.

'You can't know that for sure, you didn't know me then.' Ianto buried his head in his hands and started to sob, letting out all the pent up feelings of the past few days.

Molly felt completely helpless, she knew nothing she could say would help at this moment, so put her arm around him and just let him cry on her shoulder. When he had composed himself she said. 'I think you need to talk to Jack. He's probably the only one who can tell you what you want to know.'

'Maybe I shouldn't know. I mean there's a reason I'm having such trouble with remembering this, maybe it's because its too painful. I could be better off not knowing.'

'That might be true, but the memories are obviously there and they want to get through. The only way you are going to deal with them is to know what they are. If it is something to do with what happened in London, then you must have dealt with it before.'

Ianto thought about this for a moment, he had thought about telling Jack earlier, but he couldn't. There was something in the back of his mind that told him this wouldn't be an easy subject for Jack to talk about either, he just didn't know why. 'Can we talk about something else?'

'Sure, what do you want to talk about, the weather?' Molly said smiling.

Ianto laughed, 'No, not the weather. How about the new medic, he seems like a nice guy. I can tell he likes you.'

Molly groaned. 'You sound like Jack. Jamie seems like a nice guy, but I don't know anything about him.'

'You could find out.'

'Are you suggesting I ask him out, because I think we both know what I'm going to say to you about that.'

'I'm not suggesting you ask him out on a date, although you are going to have to take a risk with that sometime. I know you have very valid reasons for holding back, and I would never push you on the subject. The two of you are going out tomorrow morning, talk to him then.'

'I'd rather you came with me.'

'Well, I don't think that's going to happen, Jack seems intent on confining me to the Hub.'

'It's only because he cares, and he worries about your safety.'

'Then he shouldn't have let me come back to working for Torchwood. I just need to go out in the field sometimes. Being stuck indoors all day is not fun.'

'Ok, then how about I spend tomorrow in the Hub, and you go out with Jamie.' Molly suggested.

'No deal.' Ianto said smiling.

Molly looked up at the clock and said, 'Well, I don't know about you, but I need my beauty sleep. You going to be ok.'

'Yeah, and thanks.'

'Don't mention it. You know where I am if you need to talk more.' Molly then picked up the duvet and headed back towards her room.

Ianto sat on the sofa for a while longer, mulling over what Molly had said. He wished Jack was here now, somehow he thought that if Jack was with him, it would make the nightmares go away. Jack made him feel safe, but their relationship was still in it's early stages, mainly down to Ianto holding back and he knew it. Sighing he got up and went back to bed to try and get some sleep.

The next morning Ianto and Molly arrived at work together, and as usual they were the first there, apart from Jack. Ianto headed straight for the kitchen to put the coffee machine on, he had succeeded in getting about two hours sleep in the end and needed the caffeine injection.

Molly went and sat down at her computer, and rested her head on the table. After getting up in the middle of the night she hadn't succeeded in getting much sleep either. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

'Sorry,' it was Jack. 'Is everything ok, it's just both you and Ianto walked in looking like you'd been up all night. I know he hasn't been sleeping and he won't talk to me.'

Molly shifted in her seat, not knowing how much she should really say. 'I will admit we were up in the early hours talking, but it's you that needs to sit down and talk to him.'

'I've tried.'

'I mean properly sit down and talk to him, not during work hours. I think he wants to talk to you, he just doesn't know how.'

'I'm just worried what it can possibly be. He's so young, but has already been through so much, it could be one of many bad things.'

Molly sighed, 'It's about Torchwood London.'

Jack sighed and ran his hands absentmindedly through his hair, that was not what he had wanted to hear. He had kind of hoped that was one memory that would stay buried. 'How much do you know about what happened there?' he asked her.

'Not much, we know it was destroyed, but that's it. I take it you know what went on?'

'Yeah, and it's complicated.' Jack was not at all sure how he was going to deal with this.

'I figured from the look on your face that it wasn't an easy subject, but you have to find a way to talk to him because he's convinced he did something terrible.'

Jack didn't quite know what to say, but then the alarm sounded and Gwen and Jamie walked in.

'Right work to do.' Jack said. 'I will talk to Ianto when I come back.'

'You better.' Molly said.

Jack and Molly walked into the main part of the Hub to greet the others. Ianto gave them all their coffee and Jack gave out the orders for the day.

'Right Gwen, you and me are going back to the park, Molly, go with Jamie back to the Quay. Ianto…'

'I know stay here and monitor everything.' Ianto interrupted.

Jack looked at him, trying to keep the sadness that he felt at that moment from showing. They would have to talk when he got back and he was not looking forward to it.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and put this story on alert, i really appreciate it. I'm hoping this chapter is ok, as i found it quite difficult to write. I hit some stumbling blocks, but i think it's got me to where i need to be. Anyway i'll stop rambling, enjoy and please review. :)

Chapter 6.

Jack and Gwen took the SUV to get to the park. Jack was driving even more erratically than normal as his thoughts kept drifting to the conversation that he was going to have to have with Ianto later that day.

'Jack, please watch the road!' Gwen yelled at him, as he drove through a red light. 'What is going on, your driving is worse than normal.'

'Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.'

'Anything I can help with?' Gwen asked.

'No it's something I have to do.' Jack had no idea how he was going to do it though, the whole Canary Wharf issue and what happened after was a sensitive one. He stopped the car in the same place as he had the other day, and they walked over to where the body had been discovered.

'What exactly are we looking for, we never found any trace of the thing the first time. Plus we need a name for it, I'm fed up of not knowing what to call it'. Gwen said.

'I wish I had a name, because then we would know what we are dealing with. Lets widen the search area and head towards the woods to see if that gives us anything.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Molly and Jamie had taken his car back to the where they had seen the alien creatures at the bar by the Quay.

'We know that the aliens disappeared over there when Jack and Ianto shot at them, and that there was nothing of any significance left behind, but where did you go when we first left the bar, maybe the one that followed you left something behind.' Molly said.

'I headed that way,' said Jamie pointing in the direction that he had gone, 'I went down the side street to try and lead it away from the bar.'

'Ok, so lets look that way.' Molly started to walk in the direction he had pointed.

'So,' said Jamie, 'How did you get involved in all this?'

'Errmm..' Molly wasn't sure how to explain it.

'Don't tell me its another long story.' Jamie answered for her.

'You could say that, but it is connected to the other long story I mentioned.'

'You don't give much away do you?'

'Well to be fair I've known you all of two days.'

'True, but it would be nice to get to know you better.'

'What about the others?' Molly asked.

'I suppose I'd like to get to know them better too.' Jamie said. This was true, but there was something about Molly that intrigued him, and out of all of them she was the one he wanted to get to know most.

''It works both ways though, you have to tell me about you in return.' Molly couldn't quite believe what she was saying, was she flirting? She wasn't sure, but that definitely had not been her intention. She had not had the best of luck with men in the past and had vowed to keep her distance. Then again she had also vowed never to have anything to do with aliens and that hadn't exactly worked out.

They had reached the side street and Molly pulled out a hand held device looking for residual Rift energy, but found none. 'I swear if I hadn't seen those damn things for myself I'd think people were making them up, there's no trace of them.' She was just about to call Jack to see if he was having any luck, when Ianto came on over the comms.

'You need to get over to the docks right now. One of the creatures has been spotted there.'

'On our way' Molly said, as she and Jamie ran back towards the car.

'Us too' she heard Jack say over the comms.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They arrived at the docks at the same time. They went towards the sounds of screams and a noise that sounded like a wild animal. They turned the corner and saw one of the creatures attacking a dock worker. Molly and Gwen both turned away for a moment to compose themselves, it was not a pretty sight.

'Ok, we need to surround it, and then try to take it down before it goes for one of us.' Jack said. I'll take the front, so if it does go for someone it will go for me.'

The other three nodded, and slowly started to move around. The four of them stood circled around the creature which suddenly realised that it was in trouble. It stood up and let out a loud growling sound. 'Fire!! yelled Jack. All four of them fired at the same time, Jamie discovering that he didn't have too bad an aim considering he hadn't long had a gun. The bullets didn't seem to make impact on the creature initially, it was almost like they bounced off it. Jacks plan didn't quite work as it turned and went for Gwen. Just as it was about to get to her, it fell. A bullet had hit it at the base of it's head. They gathered around it.

'One down.' Jack said.

'Yeah and three to go.' said Molly, as she helped Gwen up.

'This will give us something to go on though, Dr West, I believe an autopsy is in order.'

'Great, first alien autopsy. God there's something I'd thought I'd never say'.

'Let's get it back to the Hub.' Jack and Gwen wrapped the creature up and put it in the back of the SUV. Jamie rang one of his contacts from the station where he had worked and arranged for the body of the dock worker to be transported. There had only been one witness, the person who had phoned the attack in, and Molly took care of him with a drink that had some retcon in it.

Half an hour later and they were all back in the Hub with the alien lying on the autopsy table.

'It's quite amazing really' said Jamie as he looked the strange alien creature laid out on the table. The others all looking on from above.

'Amazing is not the word I would have used.' said Molly. 'I think terrifying covers it better.'

'Sure, when your being chased by one. Cut me some slack it's not like I do this everyday. I can see why bullets don't have much of an impact, it's skin is really tough, almost like an armour. Apart from the one weak spot at the back of it's head.'

'At least we know how to kill them, the only problem we have now is finding the other three.' said Gwen.

'Ok' said Jack. 'Jamie, keeping on looking and see what you can find, Molly and Gwen analyse the samples that he gives you. Ianto, you're coming with me.'

Ianto looked at him puzzled. 'Where are we going?'

'It looks like being a late one, so we are going to get some food supplies.'

Ianto was still a bit confused by this, he quite often went out and got food for the others when they were going to be working late, but Jack rarely went with him. He was starting to suspect there was something more to it.

'Ok I'll get my jacket.' Ianto walked over to his desk to retrieve his jacket.

As Jack turned to go, Molly grabbed his arm and whispered so the others wouldn't hear. 'Since when do you go out for supplies. There's more to it right?'

'Yeah, I know I have to talk to him and I need to do it now, before I talk myself out of it.'

'Good luck.' Molly said.

Jack and Ianto walked out through the cog door and once they were outside, Jack stopped and turned to Ianto.

'I had an ulterior motive for coming with you.'

Ianto looked at him, and raised his eyebrows. 'Ok, what is it?'

'We need to talk.' said Jack.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and put the story on alert/favourite. It's very much appreciated. Enjoy the next chapter, although it has a fair bit of angst in it.

Chapter 7.

Ianto looked at Jack for a minute. 'Do you really think now is the best time. We should be getting supplies for the others.'

'Yeah I know, but I don't think this can wait any longer. The sooner we talk the sooner we can deal with it.'

Ianto didn't like the sound of this. 'Talk about what exactly?', although he was pretty sure this was going to have something to do with his dreams, and he also suspected Molly had a hand in this.

'Look, lets go and sit down over there.' said Jack pointing at a bench.

They walked over to the bench and sat down, with Ianto now thinking that this was going to be really bad.

Jack took his hand in his, and looked at him straight in the eye saying, 'We need to talk about your dreams,' he paused for a moment, 'about what happened at Canary Wharf.'

Ianto looked away, 'I can't. I don't know anything.' This wasn't exactly true, but as his dreams made no sense he didn't really want to talk about them. 'Did Molly put you up to this?'

'Not exactly, I knew this was going to come up sometime, I just wanted to avoid it as long as possible. Molly did tell me that your dreams were connected to this though, and she couldn't help, so she gave me the push I needed to do it.'

There was a palpable tension in the air now and Jack knew he just had to get this over with. 'What do you see in your dream?'

Ianto took a deep breath, thinking hard about what it was he saw. 'ermm.. I can see people running, I can hear lots of screaming and calls for help and… no I can't it's going to sound stupid.'

Jack squeezed his hand reassuringly, 'You can tell me. I won't think it's stupid, promise.'

'I can see these big metal things, they look like robots or something.' Ianto looked down at the floor, knowing he must sound crazy.

'They are called Cybermen' said Jack. 'They came from a parallel universe, and they were once human. They change humans so that they are like them, no emotion, it's called 'upgrading'.

Ianto just stared at Jack, he had been half hoping he had made these things up, because in his dream they were truly terrifying. The images that he had been seeing started to make more sense, like pieces of a puzzle fitting into place. 'So the Cybermen destroyed Torchwood London?'

'Yeah, they killed a lot of people before they got into a battle with the Daleks and the Doctor stopped them.'

'I remember you telling me about the Doctor, and the Dalek was the thing that got into the Hub once, right.'

'That's right, except this time there were hundreds of them. You ok?' Jack knew that as bad as this was to hear that there was worse to come. He almost thought about leaving it at this, but he knew it wouldn't be that simple.

Ianto didn't answer, he was still trying to process some of the images that he was seeing, there were more now and while they made some sense, they didn't fit with what Jack was telling and he still had this feeling he had done something terrible. He looked at Jack and could tell there was more to this than he was saying. 'There's more isn't there?' He could tell he was right because of the way Jack looked at him. 'In the dream I can hear a woman begging me to help her, and… and…' he trailed off before composing himself, 'I don't know if I did, or if I left her there to die.'

'You didn't leave her there to die, you tried to save her. Her name was Lisa, she was your girlfriend.' Jack looked up sadness filling his eyes when he looked at Ianto.

Ianto was suddenly getting a much clearer picture of the woman in his dream, but he was confused by something. 'You said I tried to help her, so she died anyway.'

'Yes, but not until later. You see when you got to her, the Cybermen had already half converted her You bought her here because you thought you could save her.' Jack could see the shock on Iantos face and he could also see the recognition that he was remembering.

Ianto pulled his hand away from Jack and stood up. It was starting to come back to him. 'I couldn't though, could I? She tried to… to convert Gwen.' he said horrified at the image he was seeing of Gwen strapped to some kind of table. He started pacing up and down. 'In fact, she tried to kill you all.. Oh God.. This is so much worse than I thought.'

Jack stood up, and stopped him from pacing, holding him by the shoulders and trying to get him to look him in the eye. The pain he could see on Ianto's face was heartbreaking. 'Look, you did what you did because you loved her and wanted to do whatever you could to try and save her.'

Ianto stood there trying to process all this information, but it was hurting so much, there was something else. He focused as hard as could until he remembered… He took a step back from Jack. 'You killed her, you all did, because I wouldn't.' He could see it all clearly now, and it was no wonder his memory had tried so hard to suppress all this. He was right when he had said to Molly it might be something he shouldn't remember.

'Yeah I did but…' Jack couldn't finish his sentence, he didn't know how too. He stepped forward and reached out towards Ianto, but he stepped back out of Jacks reach.

'I don't understand why I'm still here, why you didn't get rid of me. You must have hated me for what I did, you probably still do deep down. I deceived you all, I put everyone in danger, I also said so many horrible things to you. Oh God I can see it all now.' Ianto turned his back on Jack and put his hands over his face, trying to somehow block out all the images.

'I don't hate you,' Jack said softly, 'I never did. I was upset, disappointed, angry and I even felt a little betrayed, but I never hated you. If I hated you I never would have fallen in love with you.' The words came out of Jacks mouth before he realised what he was saying. It was the first time he had ever admitted to Ianto how he felt. He had tried to deny it to himself for so long, he had loved before, but everyone eventually gets old and dies, leaving him alone, so he tried to ignore what he had felt towards Ianto, trying to convince himself it wasn't love. Then Thames House had happened, Ianto had told Jack he loved him, but Jack hadn't been able to say it back, and he had regretted it. When he got this second chance with Ianto he told himself he was going to do it right and this was not what he had in mind.

Ianto turned to face Jack. 'What' he said. His mind was going into overdrive, he was having a hard time processing all the memories flooding back to him, and to top it all he thought Jack had just said he loved him. He was also pretty sure Jack had never said this before, he had the memory of himself saying it to Jack, but Jack hadn't said it back. 'Did you just say you loved me?'

'Yeah, I think I did. It wasn't supposed to come out like that, I realise this is not the best time.'

'There's an understatement. You need to give me some time alone.'

'Do you really think that's a good idea.' Jack said, he was worried about what might happen if Ianto was alone after all that had come out, actually he was worried if he let Ianto go he wouldn't come back.

'You can't expect me to just be ok with all this straight away. I will go and get what we need and then come back to the Hub, we still have work to do.'

'Ianto…' but Jack didn't get to finish.

'Please Jack just…just stay here.' Ianto then turned and started to walk away. Everything going round in his head, and no idea how he was going to sort through it all. He didn't get very far though before he heard a voice over his comms. 'Jack, Ianto, can either of you hear me.' It was Gwen and she sounded panicked.

'Gwen, this better be important.' Jack answered, still not taking his eyes of Ianto, who still had his back to him, but was obviously listening to Gwen.

'It is, Jack you have to get back to the Hub now!' There was a real urgency in her voice now.

'What's wrong?'

'The others have found us.'

Jack was confused for a minute, 'The others?

'The other alien creatures, they know where we are and are trying to find a way in.'

Ianto turned around and looked at Jack, as Jack said, 'Ok, we'll be right back.' Then they both ran back towards the Hub.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, i appreciate it. :)

Chapter 8.

Jack and Ianto got back to the entrance of the Tourist Information. Ianto was still struggling to process everything that Jack had just said, but he knew he somehow had to just get on with the job in hand and deal with the other stuff later. His friends were in danger, and he had to help.

Jack got in first and pushed the button under the desk to open the door that led down to the Hub. He really felt like he needed to say something to Ianto, but couldn't come up with anything good enough, plus Ianto was keeping his distance and not looking at him directly. They got down to the main Hub in record time and were greeted by three very worried looking people.

'What's going on?' asked Jack.

'Look on the monitor, it's the other three aliens.' said Gwen, 'They have got into one of the lower levels, but thankfully at the moment they haven't come any further.'

'How the hell did they get in, in the first place?' said Jack.

'They teleport somehow, that's why they kept disappearing so quickly. Lucky for us it's impossible for anything to teleport above where they are now, or else they probably would have just come straight here and we'd all be dead' said Molly. 'I just wish I'd managed to get the security measures to cover the whole Hub.'

'Ok, so how did they even know how to come here?'

'Well, when Jamie was doing the autopsy a signal was detected coming from the alien. It took Molly and I a while to realise that's where it was coming from, but by then it was too late and we realised security had been breached.' Gwen said. 'They are obviously coming for the one we killed, and to probably kill us in return.'

'What are we going to do Jack?' Molly asked, hoping she didn't sound as scared as she had felt. It was one thing to face an alien threat on the outside, but in their own base it was ten times worse.

'We need to split them up and take them out. Going in lockdown isn't going to help much if they can teleport out, but we need to make sure we end this here. If they escape we might not find them again.' said Jack.

'So you're saying we split up and make them follow us so that we can try and kill them, without them taking one or more of us out first.' asked Jamie.

'Yeah, that's about it.'

'Great, and what if they kill us all first?' Jamie said

'Well at least one of us is guaranteed to get out of here.' said Molly, and Jamie noticed the other three all look at Jack who just shrugged.

'Am I missing something?' said Jamie.

'You know, it's not really important now, but once this is over I'm sure one of them will lbe more than happy to fill you in.' Jack paused thinking over how he was going to split the team, he really wanted to keep Ianto with him, but he knew this wasn't going to be a good option and he wasn't even sure Ianto wanted to be anywhere near him right now. He decided to split them so that one experienced team member was with a newer one. 'Right, Gwen, I want you and Jamie to take one, Molly and Ianto another, and I'll deal with the third. I want constant updates, got that?'

They all nodded in agreement. Then they checked that their weapons were fully loaded before Jack said. 'Molly I need you to lift some of the security protocols so that they come the way we want them too, hopefully that way we have a bit of control over the situation.'

Molly nodded and set to work at her computer, not at all convinced that anything they were about to do would see them in control. 'Ok I've set up three pathways, one up to autopsy, one that will lead through the cells and another that comes through past the archives.'

'Ok good, I'll stay in autopsy with the dead alien as that is what we know they want, Gwen and Jamie take the cells, Molly and Ianto the archive route.'

They started to walk in their respective directions, but Jack stopped Ianto for a brief moment. 'You going to be ok doing this?' He was worried because ever since they had come back in Ianto hadn't spoken.

'What, will I be ok doing my job.' Ianto answered back more harshly than he had actually wanted to. 'I'll be fine.' Then he walked away to join Molly without looking back at Jack.

After everything that had just had between them outside not that long before Jack wasn't surprised by his tone. He knew Ianto needed time to think, so an alien infiltration of the Hub had come just at the wrong time, not that there was a right time for such a thing. Jack just wanted to get this threat over with so that he could start to somehow make it up to Ianto. He watched the aliens on the monitors and saw that they took the bait and had split up. 'Ok everyone they have taken the paths we wanted them too, be careful.' He then cocked his gun and waited.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gwen and Jamie took the shortest route to the cells, and as they approached they could hear the alien coming from the other direction.

'So do we have a plan, or do we wing it?' asked Jamie.

'I think the best plan is for one of us to keep the aliens attention, while the other tries to get round to the back to shoot it.' said Gwen. 'Although quite how easy that will be I don't know. You ok?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, does that make me weird. I am about to face off with some bad alien that wants to kill me.'

Gwen laughed, 'No you're not weird. I'd say that means you are definitely one of us.'

Then as they stood at the end of the dark cell lined corridor the door at the other end burst open. The alien came rushing through, its red eyes shining in the gloom. It ran at them, claws raised ready to strike. Gwen and Jamie parted so that the alien missed them and hit the wall. Jamie shot at it to get its attention, planning on being the decoy because he figured Gwen was probably a better shot. It turned and went for him, Jamie managed to dodge its claws, but it's arm hit him and he fell hitting his head against the wall. Gwen fired off some more shots to divert it away from Jamie while he got back up. It again lashed out striking Gwen, but sensing movement from behind, it turned, and Gwen managed to get the shot she needed hitting it at the base of it's head, killing it. Jamie walked over to her, and held out his hand to help her up. 'Thanks. Well that's one down, lets hope the others are as lucky. How's the head?'

'It's fine, although it will feel like I have a hangover for a while.' Jamie answered smiling. 'Nothing some painkillers won't fix. How about you?'

'I'm fine, its just a scratch. Let's go back up to the main Hub and see if we can help the others.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ianto and Molly walked down the stairs to the corridor that led to the archives. Ianto was in no mood for this, he just wanted to be away from everything and everyone and think over what Jack had said to him outside. The thing was he wasn't sure whether he was more concerned with what Jack had told him about Canary Wharf and Lisa, or the fact that Jack had just told him that he loved him. He knew he had strong feelings for Jack and he was pretty sure he loved him back, but he had too much going on in his head to know for sure. He then thought that maybe this alien had come at the right time, he had something to take out his frustration on. Ianto suddenly snapped back to reality when he thought about the alien, and he remembered Molly was with him, looking rather nervous. 'It's going to be ok, you know.' he said.

Molly jumped slightly when he spoke. 'Oh.. Sorry, I thought you'd forgotten I was here. Yeah I know it will be ok.'

'I was a bit distracted.'

Molly hesitated, 'I know this is the wrong time, but is everything ok between you and Jack.?'

'I think it will be, it's just… he just told me quite a lot of heavy things and I need some time.'

'Oh'. Molly didn't know what she could say to that.

'Once this is all over, I'll tell you.' Ianto wasn't thrilled at the thought of repeating some of what Jack had said, but he figured he owed Molly an explanation as she had been the one there throughout his nightmares. 'Come on, lets get this over with.'

They started to creep up the corridor, finding the door to the archives open and standing in the middle of the room was another of the aliens. Molly started to creep around one of the filing cabinets in the room, hoping that it wouldn't notice her while it's gaze was on Ianto. It lunged forward at Ianto who shot at it while leaping to one side to get out of it's way. As the alien landed it knocked the cabinet over, missing Molly by inches. It kept up it's advance on Ianto and went to grab him, but it gave Molly the shot she needed. Even though she was on the floor she managed to get a good enough angle to shoot the alien where she needed too and it fell to the ground.

'Damn, I'm fed up of always landing on the floor.' said Molly, as she got up. 'I have so many bruises.'

Ianto smiled as he too got up. 'Yeah I know that feeling.'

Gwen's voice then came through on the comms, Ianto, Molly, how are you doing?'

'We're fine, our alien is down, you?'

'Yeah, ours is down too. Have you heard from Jack?'

'No, and he's the one that wanted updates. He's probably busy with his alien.' Ianto said trying not to sound worried, even though he was a little.

'We're heading up to autopsy' said Gwen, 'Meet you there.'

As she said this Ianto and Molly took off back the way they came, heading back up to autopsy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack was alone in autopsy, watching on the monitor as the rest of the team went their separate ways. He was considering the best way to deal with the alien that was heading his way, the one that he could now hear getting closer. The others had an advantage because at least one of them could get behind while the other kept it busy. Jack waited by the autopsy table until he could see the third alien enter the room. As it started down the steps he ducked down behind the table so that he wouldn't be seen, or so he thought. The alien was obviously aware of his presence as it headed straight for him. Jack stood up and shot the alien, but it did no good. It grabbed hold of him and threw him against the wall which stunned him momentarily. As it raised its claws to strike him, he got hold of his senses enough to move to the side. He kicked out with his leg catching the alien and knocking it off balance, this gave him the chance to get behind it and shoot it, right at the back of it's head. The alien fell backwards straight on top of Jack. He then heard a voice from above.

'Now how come no ones surprised to find you in that position' said Gwen.

'What can I say,' said Jack as he heaved the alien off him and got up. 'I'm irresistible.' He grinned. Jack looked up at the other four standing above autopsy, looking slightly the worse for wear. At his comment he had seen Ianto roll his eyes, but also he could tell he was surprising the urge to smile. 'Everyone ok?'

'Yeah, we're all fine, just cuts and bruises. The other aliens are down.' said Gwen. 'What are we going to do with them?'

'I think we should get rid of them completely, maybe incinerate them. I don't want to take the risk that they are all giving off signals and more follow them.'

Between the five of them they dealt with what was left of the aliens and tidied up the Hub. 'Ok,' Jack said finally, 'I don't think there's anything else that needs doing, go to your homes and get some rest.' They all smiled at him gratefully, said their goodnights and headed for the door. Jack watched though as Ianto gave Molly a hug and whispered something to her, she then smiled at him and walked out of the door, waving to Jack as she did so. Ianto then walked back over to Jack.

'Would you mind if I stayed for a while longer?' Ianto asked.

Jack was surprised by this. 'Sure, you can stay as long as you want, but I had thought you would be the first out of the door.'

'I probably would have been earlier, but I decided that I need to face things head on, no running away and I figured if you were with me it would be easier.'

Jack moved close and put his arms around Ianto pulling him into a fierce hug. Ianto responded by wrapping his arms around Jacks waist. They stayed like for a few minutes before Ianto pulled away. 'If I'm going to stay though, I need something to eat, pizza maybe?'

Jack smiled. 'Sure, I'll order the food, if you make the coffee.'

'No problem.'

Jack watched as Ianto walked towards the kitchen, it was starting to feel like things were starting to get back to the way they were. He knew there was still a way to go, but he now had a full team again and they were working well together. As for his relationship with Ianto it was a work in progress, but he was now glad he had told him he loved him, and Jack hoped that Ianto would say it back soon.

The problem with Torchwood though, was that you never knew what was around the corner.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N. I just wanted to say that this is not the end of the story, just the end of that particular alien threat. Now i have established the team i have more stories to tell, hopefully people will want to continue reading lol. The next part will be more about Molly and her past, but there will be plenty of Janto moments. I actually have the next 4 chapters planned out, i just need to get a move on and type them up. :) Please review and let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter, i'm pleased you wanted me to carry on. Cookies to all. Enjoy the next chapter. :)

Chapter 9.

The next couple of weeks after the alien infiltration of the Hub were fairly quiet. There was some Rift activity, and a slight increase in weevil sightings, but on the whole nothing that the team couldn't handle.

Molly walked into the hub through the cog door, and headed over to her computer to check some of the programmes she had running. She came in by herself most mornings now as Ianto had taken to staying with Jack more, not that she minded, she was happy they were getting on so well. As she put her bag down on the desk, Ianto appeared holding out a cup of coffee.

'Thanks. Everything ok today?'

'Yeah, there were no alarms last night, it was quiet.'

'Good. Where's Jack?'

'He's on the phone to UNIT, so he's not in the best mood. It's too early to be dealing with them.'

'I wonder what they want?'

'I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. I better go and make everyone else's drinks.'

Jamie came in through the door next and Gwen not long after. Jack came out of his office and called everyone to the boardroom. They all went in and sat down with their mugs of coffee. They took their respective places, Jack at the head of the table, Ianto and Gwen either side and then Molly next to Ianto, Jamie next to Gwen.

'We are getting a visit from a representative from UNIT. It's to do with the device that came through the Rift at the docks, the one we thought looked like it had another half. Well they have the other half.' Jack did not at all sound happy about this visit.

'Is it Martha?' asked Gwen.

'No sadly not, if it had been I would have been a lot happier about all this. It's a guy called Alex Palmer.'

Molly had just been taking a sip of her drink when she heard Jack say the name Alex Palmer and she coughed in surprise at hearing this name, trying hard to swallow her drink before she spat it out. Everyone turned to look at her though.

'You ok, Molly? Jack said.

'Yeah, sorry. Errrm.. Did you say Alex Palmer?'

'Yes, why do you know him?'

'Knew him.' Molly said quietly.

'That makes it easier.' said Jack, and then he continued talking.

'I wouldn't count on it.' Molly said, so quietly that no one else heard her. Everyone had gone back to listening to Jack, but Molly couldn't concentrate. Out of all the people that worked at UNIT why did it have to be him, unless there was another Alex Palmer, but this was highly unlikely. So many thoughts were going round her head she didn't realise she was being spoken too.

'Hello, Molly are you with us?'

'What. Sorry, you said something?'

'I said how is the predictor programme coming.'

'Oh, I think I've finally got it. Just need to wait to test it.' Molly was quite proud she had got this programme working as it was the one she had the most trouble with. She hoped now that it was predicting exactly and wasn't out by hours as it had been before.

Everyone then dispersed heading to their workstations to get on with the various jobs they all had going on. Molly though still couldn't concentrate, and spent the morning not doing much other than staring at her computer screen. At around 1pm Jamie walked over to her desk, he had noticed that she had been quiet and unfocused.

'Hey, I was going out for some lunch, do you want to come?'

'No thank you, I really need to keep working, I'm not getting very far today.'

'I did noticed you looked distracted. I hope you don't mind me asking, but is it something to do with this guy that's visiting, the one you knew?'

'What makes you say that?' Molly asked quite defensively, wondering if she had really been that obvious. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to snap, it's nothing it's just someone I never thought I'd see again so it was a bit of a shock when Jack mentioned him. I'm fine though, really.' She smiled up at him in what she hoped was a reassuring way, but Jamie was not convinced. He thought better of trying to push the subject. If there was more to it then he wouldn't be the one she confided in, that would be Ianto, and a part of him wished she would talk to him too. Jamie knew though that Molly could be very guarded when it came to talking about herself. The sound of Jack's voice woke him out of his thoughts.

'Right our visitor is on the way up, lets try and make him feel welcome.' Jack said as he made his way down the stairs from his office.

The cog door then opened and Ianto stepped through bringing with him Alex Palmer. He was just slightly shorter than Jack, had short cropped hair and brown eyes. Gwen and Jamie had walked over, but Molly hung back slightly. Jack went over and introduced himself, flashing his famous grin as he did so. 'Captain Jack Harkness, let me introduce you to the others. You've met Ianto already.' He led Alex over to the others, 'Gwen Williams and Dr Jamie West', Alex shook hands with both of them, as they were introduced. Molly knew she was going to have to come over too. As Jack saw her walking over he started to introduce her, but Alex interrupted him.

'Molly Jameson. I can't believe it.' Alex walked over to her, and gave her a brief hug. 'You're looking great, then again you always did.' He said smiling at her.

'Thanks.' said Molly quietly, and blushing slightly as the others were looking. 'Please excuse me, but I need to get back to what I was doing.' Molly then turned and hurried away back to her computer.

The other four team members were watching this exchange and all trying to work out what was going on. Molly had been quiet, and looked as though she has been trying to blend into the background, plus the whole time she had been near Alex, she never made eye contact with him. They all pretty much jumped to the same conclusion that he was an ex boyfriend, given the amount of awkwardness.

Alex didn't seem phased by this though, and even commented on the tension, 'It's always awkward when you haven't seen people for a while. Anyway I believe we have business to attend too.'

'Yes we do, this way. We'll go to my office.' Jack led the way to his office, Alex following. Gwen and Jamie then turned and looked at Ianto.

'Why are you both staring at me?' He asked.

'Can you shed any light on what just happened. Has she ever mentioned him before.' Gwen asked.

'No, but even if she had I wouldn't tell you.'

'Well there's definitely a story there.' Gwen continued.

'I'm not so sure it's something we should ask her about though. I mean she really looked like she didn't want to be anywhere near him.' Jamie said.

'Probably a bad break up.' Gwen guessed.

'Hopefully he won't be here that long.' said Ianto trying to steer the conversation away from Molly. 'I wonder what's going on in the office.' The three of them all turned their heads to look up at Jack's office.

Jack and Alex came back out of the office about half an hour later, and Jack announced. 'Meeting in the boardroom, ten minutes.'

Molly had been back working at her computer when she suddenly realised she had company. It was Alex.

'Hey Moll.' he said.

'Don't call me that.'

'You always used to like it.' Alex said, and he reached out with his left hand and went to stroke her cheek with his fingers, but she moved her head out of the way.

'Don't do that either.' She said. 'What the hell are you doing here Alex?'

'I'm here representing UNIT on official buisness.'

Molly rolled her eyes. 'Yeah right, both you and I know this kind of job is beneath you, it's the sort of thing you'd send a junior staff member out to do for you.'

Alex looked at her, a harder edge in his eyes and a malicious smile on his lips. 'Well if you must know I took the job because of you. Imagine my surprise when I heard Molly Jameson of all people was working for Torchwood. Never thought I'd find you again.'

'It must be my unlucky day then, because I never wanted to see you again.' Molly stood up from her desk and went to walk away, but Alex grabbed hold of her arm. She looked around, but she couldn't see any of the others.' Let go.'

'What are you going to do, get your new friends to come to your rescue.' Alex said smiling.

'Why after all this time would you even want to find me?'

'You just disappeared on me, and well to be honest I was a bit put out by that. No one just leaves me like that.'

'I had damn good reasons for leaving you, and if I had tried to tell you I was going you wouldn't exactly have made it easy, so I upped and left. I know what it is you're really worried about, but don't be.'

'Good, but then you did always know what was good for you. Now I'm going to be here for a few days, why don't we get reacquainted.' Alex said as he pulled Molly a little closer to him.

'Let go of my arm.' Molly said in a controlled voice, she was trying to keep the panic she was feeling out of it. 'I am not the same person I was all those years ago, so don't test me. How about we just get along while we have to, then you can get out of my life and stay out.'

'We'll see.' said Alex smirking. He then released Molly's arm and turned to walk away. 'Come on then, we have a meeting to go to.' He then walked off towards where the others were already gathered in the boardroom.

Molly had to sit down for a minute to compose herself. She was shaking and trying to hold back tears. Seeing Alex was something that she never thought she would have to do again, and it was so much harder than she had ever thought. She took a deep breath and then got up and walked to the boardroom. She had to get through the next couple of days without arousing suspicion from the others as she did not want to talk about what was going on. Molly walked into the boardroom and took her usual place next to Ianto, the whole time not looking in Alex's direction.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter. I seem to be on a roll at the moment so here's the next chapter, i think being stuck at home with a cold is agreeing with me lol. :)

Chapter 10.

Jack stood at the head of the table, in front of him was the device that had come through the Rift, and next to it, the other half which Alex had brought in with him.

'We need to run some tests on this now that we have both parts to see if we can work out what it does.' said Jack.

'Does UNIT not have any idea what it is.' Gwen asked Alex.

'No, not really. Some of my colleagues in the research lab did detect some kind of energy coming from it, but were not able to narrow down what it was. With the second half it should be easier.'

'That's kind of dangerous then isn't it.' said Jamie, 'For all we know when you put the two parts together it explodes.'

'True, but we didn't detect anything about it that seemed combustible. The theories we have is that it controls something, or possibly summons something.'

'Well that's comforting.' said Ianto, thinking that summoning something unknown would not be the best idea.

'Controls what though,' Molly said finally finding her voice, but looking at the wall over Alex's head and not directly at him. 'There's a lot of variables with that theory.'

'Yeah, but it might be useful.'

Molly shook her head, she was finding her confidence again, 'Typical, you want to know if it does something you can use. Harness it's power in some way.'

'What's wrong with that if it helps fight against an enemy that could have technology we don't know about.' Alex said staring at Molly.

Jamie answered this, 'Molly has a point, what if it's, I don't know, mind control or something.'

'I would call that useful.' Alex said still looking in Molly's direction.

'Really, I would call that highly dangerous. It would be one of those things that started out with good intentions, then it falls into the wrong hands and before you know it the whole world's being controlled by some maniac.' Jamie replied.

'Ok, enough with the debate,' said Jack. 'Before we talk about what we are going to do with it, we need to work out what it does. Molly I want you to run what tests you can on it without putting it together first, if you can be certain it won't explode then put it together and see what you get from it then. Alex, you can help, Jamie too just in case.'

Molly knew that Jack was going to make her work with Alex, and she was thankful that he had made Jamie help them too.

'Ianto, I want you to see if you can dig up anything in the archives, Gwen I want you to help with the research.'

They all headed their separate ways with Gwen grumbling slightly under her breath, because she knew if she so much as looked at something the wrong way in the archives, Ianto would get mad with her. She resigned herself to working on the computer down there, thinking it was the safest option. Jack went up into his office, and the others went down to Molly's work area.

Molly hooked the two parts of the device up to her computer and started to run a programme that checked for any known explosives, she was very aware of Alex's presence, but she tried not to focus on it. Anytime she wanted to say something she spoke directly to Jamie. 'I'm pretty sure it's not going to explode if we put it together.'

'Ok then do it.' Jamie said, although there was some wariness in his voice.

Molly gently put the two pieces of the device together, so that it formed a cylinder that had three buttons on it. It was still hooked up to her computer and spikes began to appear showing it was emitting some kind of energy.

'Well, it's not a signal summoning something.' Molly was relieved at this as she didn't really want aliens in the Hub again.

'Any idea what it is Moll?' Alex asked and he put his hand on her shoulder as he looked at the screen.

Molly carefully moved so that Alex wasn't touching her anymore, then said. 'I'm not sure, and it's Molly.'

'Sorry' said Alex, and then he looked at Jamie who was looking slightly puzzled. 'Old habits die hard, I always used to call her Moll.'

Jamie made a mental note never to call her that, as the look Molly had in her eye now was not one he ever wanted directed at him. 'Maybe we could try one of the buttons?.'

'Here goes.' Molly pushed the first button on the cylinder and everything around them went black.

'Ok, so who turned out the lights.' came Jack's voice from somewhere above them.

'Sorry.' Molly pushed the button again and the lights returned. 'Well we know one thing it does.'

'What just happened?' came Gwen's voice over the comms, 'Everything just went black.'

'Let's just say we've found one use this device has.' Jack said, 'Can you both come up here.'

'Do you want me to try the next one?' Molly asked.

'Yeah, but wait for Gwen and Ianto to get here first.'

They arrived a couple of minutes later and Molly pressed the next button. Everything went silent, there was always a lot of noise in the Hub, but it all stopped. She looked up at Jack who was obviously saying something, but she had no idea what it was. She pushed the button again and the noise resumed.

'Interesting.' said Alex. 'The signal coming from that can cancel out any sound, this is a criminals dream, think of the possibilities.'

There was a pause while they contemplated what the third button on the device did. Molly pushed it, but nothing happened.

'That was an anti climax.' said Alex.

'I think there's a loose connection.' Molly said looking at it closely. 'I can see a wire that looks disconnected. It's going to take some time though to try and fix it.'

'Right, well I think it can wait until tomorrow, it's late.' said Jack.

Gwen was first out after saying goodbye to everyone, but then she had the most to go home for. Molly picked up her bag and started walking towards the door, wishing she wasn't going home alone, but she wasn't going to say anything to Ianto as this would raise too many questions. As she got near the door Alex was at her side.

'So what are you doing this evening?' He asked her.

'I'm going home.' Molly said.

'I was hoping we could do something.'

Molly looked at him incredulously, 'What! No. I'm not doing anything with you.'

'Come on you have to admit there were times we were great together.' Alex said leaning in closer to her.

'Maybe, but the bad far outweighs the good.'

'I'm sure you'll change your mind eventually. I tend to get what I want.' He said smirking at her. He then turned to the others and said, 'Goodnight then, I'll see you all tomorrow.' As he walked passed Molly he winked at her and she shuddered.

As Jamie came over to the door she said, 'Would you mind giving me a lift home? I.. I'm just really tired and can't face the walk.' This was lie, but she didn't want to risk Alex following her.

'Sure, I don't mind at all.'

As she was about to leave Ianto walked over to her. 'I'll see you tomorrow,' she said smiling at him.

Ianto looked at her, the smile she was giving did not reach her eyes, they had a haunted look. 'Are you ok?'

'I'm fine, just really tired. I think I need an early night.'

'If you're sure,' Ianto then gave her a hug. 'You know where I am.'

Molly smiled again and then left with Jamie.

Ianto then went over to the sofa where Jack was and sat down. He couldn't stop thinking about Molly and the look she had in her eye. She seemed frightened and vulnerable and it wasn't a side to her he was used to seeing and it worried him. Jacks voice cut into his thought.

'Hello, did you hear a word I just said?' asked Jack.

'What, oh sorry, my mind was elsewhere.'

'I did notice you were distracted, what were you thinking about?

'Molly.' replied Ianto, 'I'm worried about her.'

'Yeah, she did seem quiet today. Do you think it's something to do with Alex?'

'It seems that way. I've just never seen her like that, so quiet and nervous. Look I'm going to have to go and see her. I don't like the thought that something's going on and she's in the flat alone worrying about whatever it is. Sorry.' he said looking at Jack.

'Don't be, I love the fact you care about your friends so much. If there's anything I can do tell me.'

'Sure.' Ianto said getting up off the sofa. As he did he leaned over to Jack and kissed him gently. 'I also promise that I will make it up to you sometime.'

'I'll hold you to that.' said Jack.

Ianto smiled and then grabbed his jacket and headed out of the door. He just hoped that he could get Molly to talk to him.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N. Thank you for all your reviews and get well wishes. The cold is finally getting better. :) Enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 11.

Ianto let himself into the flat and headed into in the living room, thinking that Molly would be sat on the couch, either watching the television or working on her laptop. When he entered the room, he could see she wasn't there, so he went across to the kitchen and that was empty too. This meant she was probably in her bedroom, so he walked back towards her room and paused outside the door. It was then that he suddenly realised he could hear crying. Ianto gently knocked on the door. 'Molly, can I come in?'

'Ianto?' came a surprised sounding voice from the other side of the door.

Ianto pushed open the door and saw that Molly was sat cross-legged at the top of her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. As he entered the room he saw her wiping away the tears from her face, but she couldn't disguise the fact her eyes were red. It was obvious she had been crying for a while.

'What are you doing here, I didn't expect to see you.' Molly said.

'I was worried about you.' Ianto said as he walked up the other side of the bed.

'I'm fine.' Molly said.

'Yeah, you look it. He replied sarcastically.

'I'm just really tired and I got a bit emotional.' Molly knew that she wasn't convincing when she said this.

'Look,' Ianto said as he sat down on the other side of the bed so that he was sat next to her. 'I have only ever seen you cry once before the whole time I've known you, and that was when you had to have your cat put to sleep. It has too be pretty bad for you to be this upset.'

Molly turned to look at him for a moment, then looked away again. Molly really wanted to be able to tell him everything, but she was scared. Tears began to form in her eyes again.

'I remember that it was you not so long ago trying to get me to talk to Jack, and it wasn't easy, but it helped. You have done so much for me, let me help you.'

That did it, Molly knew she was being hypocritical, she gave out advice on how talking helped, but she wasn't willing to do it herself. The tears started falling freely. Ianto put his arm around her and she turned burying her head into his shoulder and sobbing, he then wrapped his other arm around her so that he was hugging her. He wanted to make her feel safe, because then that way she might open up. He owed her that much, he never would have got his life back without her help, never been reunited with Jack. He decided to just go for it. 'Is it Alex?'

Molly took a deep breath and then pulled away from him. 'That obvious huh?'

'Well ever since you heard he was coming you haven't been yourself.' Ianto paused for a minute, he knew that Molly had been hurt badly in the past, but had never mentioned any names. 'He's the one that hurt you right?'

'It was so long ago, I'm different to how I was back then, but seeing him just brings it all back to me.'

'Why don't you start at the beginning. How did you meet him?'

'I was eighteen, he was twenty and working in the research lab at UNIT as a junior researcher. I still had friends there that I kept in touch with even after my parents died, and we met at a party. At the time I couldn't believe he was interested in me, but he paid me so much attention and brought me the nicest presents and I totally fell for him.' Molly shook her head in disgust at the memory. 'It was the first time since my parents died that I truly felt someone loved me. I'd been living at my uncle's place, but he was never there as he worked for UNIT too and was always off on missions. My friends were great, but it wasn't the same and I felt so lonely. Easy target I suppose.'

'You shouldn't beat yourself up over the fact you were lonely.'

'The thing is, and I find it hard to believe now, but he was so charming to start with. The first four months we were together were great, but then he started to change. He would make comments about my friends, and stop me going out with them, we would go out shopping and I'd end up buying stuff that wasn't really me. He started changing me, controlling my life. I lost so many of my friends because of him, I was blind to what he was doing. I relied on him. Then I found out he was cheating on me, but I still didn't walk away because he had me convinced it was my fault. I thought I must have been doing something wrong and so I tried even harder to be what he wanted.' Molly pulled her knees up to her chest and put her head against them. 'I must sound so stupid, how could I let someone control my life like that?'

Ianto wasn't sure what to say straight away. He was wondering though how he was going to resist the urge to punch Alex in the face the next time he saw him. It was no wonder Molly had been so freaked out by his presence. He put his arm back around her and said. 'It's surprising how manipulative some people can be. They are clever, they do it without you realising. They separate you from everyone, then you have no choice but to rely on them. You did leave though.'

'Eventually, but I should have left sooner, then…' Molly stopped not wanting to explain the rest of it.

'What?' Ianto asked. 'Whatever it is you can tell me. It seems that you have been holding onto whatever it is for years.'

Molly looked at him. 'Ok. I still had one friend within the lab, Ellie Mills, she came to me one day concerned at what was happening. She was the only one to still care. The thing is she had also found out that Alex was up to no good at work, and she needed my help to get into some deleted files. I think you could call this my wake up call.'

'What was he doing?'

'Blackmail, corruption. You name it, he probably did it. He was even selling secrets. Ellie wanted to expose him.'

'That didn't happen though did it, because he's still there.'

'No it didn't. Ellie died before she could hand over what we found.'

'What.' said Ianto, shocked by what she had just said. 'How?'

'She died in a car accident.'

'Do you think Alex had something to do with it?'

'I don't know. He knew we were on to him. He has a lot of friends and someone had got wind of what Ellie was planning and told him. When I found out she had died I got scared, and that's when I ran. I literally just took what money I had and got away from there. I came here and eventually rebuilt my life.'

'You never told anyone about what you and Ellie found out?'

'No. I know that I should have, once I'd got away. It took a long time before I felt safe, and confident that he wouldn't find me, but I had no proof. Ellie had it all, and without that no one would believe me. I feel so bad about it all.'

'I believe you. Look we can figure this out, you are not alone in this anymore. I think Alex is long overdue getting what's coming to him.'

'Thank you.' Molly said quietly. 'I never thought anyone would understand, I always thought everything was my fault.'

'It wasn't, and we will come up with something. Now though, you need to get some sleep.'

'Ok.. Erm.. Are you staying here tonight or going back to the Hub?'

'I'm staying here.'

Molly smiled. 'Thanks.' She turned and hugged Ianto. He then got up and left the room walking back into the kitchen. He had hated seeing Molly so upset, but was glad she had finally confided in him because now they could do something about it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning Ianto and Molly walked into the Hub together. Ianto gave Molly a reassuring smile before she walked over to her workstation to try and fix the device they had been working with, and Ianto went up to Jack's office.

'Is everything ok?' asked Jack, although he could tell by the look on Iantos face that it wasn't.

'No.' said Ianto. 'You are going to have to keep me away from Alex, because at the moment I'm not sure what I would do if I saw him.'

Jack walked over to him. 'I take it this is something to do with Molly?'

'Yeah, I got her to talk to me last night.'

'And?' asked Jack.

Ianto then told Jack some of what Molly told him last night, holding some things back because he was sure there was some stuff she wouldn't want him to repeat. 'We can do something to help right?'

'I'm sure we can do something.' Jack said thinking. He was not happy that somebody was messing with one of his team. 'Right, when Gwen comes in, I'll see if she can use any of her police contacts to find out anything about Ellies accident, I'm going to contact Martha and see if she can get me anything on Alex. I'm going to need you and Jamie to keep Alex busy and away from Molly. Which means resisting the urge to punch him.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'Maybe I could accidentally trip him up?' He said innocently.

Jack laughed. 'Try not to be obvious.'

'What do we tell Gwen and Jamie?'

'As little as possible for now, if he gets wind that Molly has said something and that we're investigating him, who knows what he'll do.'

At that moment the alarm sounded as the door opened. Jack and Ianto both walked out of the office to see Jamie and Gwen coming in, with Alex following behind them. Jamie walked straight over to Molly to see how she was, while Gwen stood talking to Alex.

'Gwen, can you come up here for a minute.' Jack called down to her.

'Sure.' She walked up the stairs to Jacks office, passing Ianto who was on the way down.

'What is it?' Gwen asked when she got there.

'I need you to get some information for me, and I need you to keep it quiet, no one can know what you are doing.'

Jack told her what he needed her to find, and although she was slightly puzzled as to why he wanted this, she went back to her desk and started making phone calls. Jack then picked up his own phone, hoping that he would be able to find out he could use.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N. Thank you to **CalliM, SakuraKissy, NoOneNotEvenMe and ForeverBossy26, **for your reviews for the last chapter. I love some of the words you have all been using to describe Alex. I really do appreciate the reviews because i still get nervous everytime i post a new chapter lol. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 12.

Molly sat at her desk working on the device, trying to open it up enough to fix the loose connection. She had seen Ianto go into Jacks office and figured he was telling him about what she had told him, although she trusted that there were somethings he wouldn't. When the others came in she was glad Jamie had come straight over to talk to her.

'Morning.' Jamie said when he reached her. 'You alright this morning?'

'I'm fine, had a really good nights sleep.' Molly answered, and this was true, after unloading everything she was feeling she had slept surprisingly well. 'I appreciate you giving me a lift home.'

'Anytime. Any luck with that?' He asked pointing at the cylinder in her hands.

'Not yet, it's tricky. It's going to take me some time, I don't want to break it completely.'

Ianto then walked over to them, Alex with him. 'Jamie, Jack wants you, Alex and I to keep researching this device while Molly tries to fix it.'

'I think it's a better idea if I stay here with Molly, help her with it.' said Alex.

'It's not really a two person job at the moment.' said Molly.

'Fine,' said Alex somewhat reluctantly, 'but I don't want to go too far.'

'That's fine, we can set up in the boardroom. If you want to make your way up there I will go and get some refreshments and meet you in a minute.' said Ianto.

As Alex headed towards the boardroom, Ianto turned to look back at Molly who silently whispered thank you to him. As he walked in the direction of the kitchen, Jamie stopped him. 'What's going on?' he asked.

'How do you mean?' said Ianto.

'It seems to me you are trying to keep Alex away from Molly. I'm not stupid I can see she hasn't been right ever since he turned up.'

'I can't tell you right now.' said Ianto, but seeing that Jamie was about to protest added, 'but I will. I just can't risk Alex getting suspicious, please go up to the boardroom and I'll be there in a minute.'

Jamie looked at him for a moment before turning and walking away to the boardroom, wondering what on earth Alex had done.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later and Gwen walked back into Jacks office. 'I've found out the details about that accident you asked about.'

'Was it an accident?'

'No.' said Gwen. 'I got a copy of the case file emailed to me. It seems the reason the car crashed is because someone cut the brake line.'

Jack sighed. 'Do they have any idea who was responsible?'

'Again, no. They have hardly anything on this. It seemed that no one had any reason to want to hurt her, they spoke to people she worked with, but they only had nice things to say. I did notice one interesting name on the list of people they spoke too.' She looked towards the boardroom. 'Alex Palmer.'

'What did he have to say for himself on it.'

'Not much, said he barely knew her. Why so much interest in this case?'

'It's connected to something much larger. Go and ask Ianto to join us and I'll fill you in.'

'What about Molly and Jamie?'

'Molly already has an idea about it, and I need Jamie to keep Alex busy for now. We can fill him in later.'

Gwen left the room and returned moments later with Ianto.

'About time, what have you got?' Ianto asked.

'Honestly, not a lot. He's very clever and covers his tracks extremely well. Ellies accident was no accident, but we have no way of proving whether or not he caused the accident or got someone to do that for him.'

'Did you get anything from Martha?'

'She pulled his file and he does have some complaints against him, but either nothing was ever proved or the complaints were dropped. She put me onto someone called General Andrews who is in charge of the research lab, apparently he has been trying to get something on Alex for months, but files and information on him keep disappearing.'

'So what are we going to do?' Gwen asked.

'We let Alex take the device we've been working on back to UNIT.' said Jack.

'What!' exclaimed Ianto, 'We're going to let him go, just like that.'

'Hear me out. We can't do much with him here, he's going to get suspicious. General Andrews is willing to arrest him when he returns if we can give him some evidence. Now Molly has uncovered files he deleted once before and she might be willing to do that again, especially if he's not here. Believe me UNIT have some pretty serious methods for dealing with people like Alex.'

Ianto frowned. 'I'm not happy about this.'

'Look at it this way, it gets him out of here, and away from Molly.' Jack said, he wasn't completely happy with this plan either, but it had to be done. 'Go and tell Molly and Alex to come here, and then Ianto when Alex has gone, I want you to fill Gwen and Jamie in on what we are doing.'

When Molly and Alex got to the office, Jack said. 'Alex, General Andrews has been on the phone and he wants you to take the device back to UNIT.'

'But I haven't fixed it yet?' said Molly who felt slightly put out by the fact she was going to have to hand it over.

'They want it and I tried to convince them it was better off with us, but they wouldn't have it. So Alex you're due back there for 6pm.'

'That's a shame I was hoping to stay around for a few days, but if duty calls.'

'It does, if you want to call General Andrews than please do.' said Jack.

'No it's fine, once that guy makes up his mind there's no changing it.' said Alex somewhat bitterly.

Molly looked at Jack, there was something about this that wasn't making sense, but she knew that this was not the time to question it. She left the office and picked up the device and took it back to Alex. On her way back up to the office she could see Ianto talking to Gwen and Jamie and she knew then there was definitely something going on. 'Here you go', she said handing it over. By the time they got to the door, the others we there.

'I'll show you out.' Ianto said, although this was more because he wanted to make sure he actually left than out of politeness.

'Well it was nice meeting you all.' Alex said, then turning to Molly. 'Nice seeing you again, hopefully it won't be as long next time.'

'Goodbye Alex,' was all Molly said in return. Ianto then led him out the door. When he had gone she turned to the others and said, 'So who's going to tell me what's going on. I mean all of a sudden UNIT want that device and Alex back? This is because of me isn't it.'

Jack walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. 'Yes it is, and your friend Ellie. We think we can get to the bottom of what happened, but we knew that we couldn't do that with him here. We have the time it takes him to get back to UNIT to get what we need.'

'What do I have to do?'

'Ianto said that you had recreated some deleted UNIT files before, do you think you can do it again?'

'If it gets Alex arrested, sure.' She paused. 'I'm sorry.'

Jack looked confused. 'Why are you sorry.'

'For bringing you all into this.'

'No need to be sorry, we're a team. We look out for each other.'

Ianto then came back in. 'He's gone.'

'Good. Ok down to work we don't have long. Molly go and see if you can get into the UNIT files and recreate what we need, Jamie and Gwen, go back through the police files on Ellie's accident. Ianto, you and I are going to go through his personnel files.'

They set about there various tasks. It was obvious now that Molly was a lot happier and the atmosphere in the Hub returned to normal. Jamie was working through the police reports with Gwen, but he couldn't help looking over at Molly every now and again. He had the feeling that Ianto hadn't told him and Gwen everything about what had happened between Molly and Alex. Jamie had the feeling that Alex had treated her in a bad way and this unsettled him and made him eager to find something on the guy so that he would be out of her life forever.

'I'm in.' shouted Molly after a while. 'Oh God, it's worse than last time, look at this.' The others gathered around Mollys computer, she had pulled up files that showed emails he had sent to buyers, information on equipment that had mysteriously disappeared from UNIT archives, and emails blackmailing senior members of staff.

'I can't believe he's got away with this for so long.' said Gwen, and Molly cringed slightly at this.

'Well there's enough here for General Andrews to be able to arrest him. Send it to him. Alex should have got back to UNIT headquarters by now.'

'Ok'. Molly suddenly felt as if a weight she didn't even realised she was carrying, had been lifted off her. Alex could finally be out of her life forever. 'Would it be ok if I went home after. There's no sign of any Rift activity?'

'Sure,' said Jack.

'Do you want me come with you?' asked Ianto.

'No I'll be fine tonight, thanks. Oh, but can you let me know if you hear anything?' Molly asked and Ianto nodded. 'Thank you everyone, I really appreciate what you've helped me do today.'

'At least let me give you a lift.' said Jamie, he knew Alex had gone, but he still wanted to make sure she got home ok.

'Only if you don't mind.'

Just like the night before it didn't take long to get to Molly's flat, and Jamie was pleased that she seemed more relaxed this time. He stopped the car outside and said. 'Are you sure you're going to be ok?'.

'I'll be fine. I would invite you in, but there's something I have to do tonight.'

'That's ok, I didn't expect you too.'

'I know you didn't.' said Molly and she smiled at him as she got out of the car. 'See you tomorrow.'

Jamie watched as she walked towards her flat and opened the door. Once she was inside he started the car back up and drove away.

Molly was pleased to be home, she walked into the lounge and threw her bag on the couch. She switched the kettle on and then walked over to close the curtains over the far window. It was then she sensed a presence behind her, and she froze when someone spoke. 'Did you really think it would be that easy to take me down?'

It was Alex.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N. Please don't kill me for the cliffhanger!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter, and for not killing me over the cliffhanger lol. Thank you also to everyone who has favourited the story. :) Enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 13.

Molly turned slowly, and saw Alex standing in the doorway of the lounge. There was no way she could make a run for it because that was the only way to get to the front door and he was blocking it. She couldn't even try and use her phone as that was in her bag, and as for her gun she only ever carried that on missions. Molly was starting to think this flat was bad luck because it wasn't the first time she'd been confronted in it. She was scared, but tried to hold her nerve. 'What are you doing here?'

Alex walked towards her. 'I was a little suspicious at my sudden call back, so I phoned a friend of mine in the General's office, and he told me Jack had phoned the General, not the other way around. I started to wonder if maybe you had been talking.'

'Talking, about what?' Molly asked innocently.

'You know full well what. All that stuff you and Ellie dug up all those years ago. I knew I should have dealt with you the same time I dealt with her.' Alex was closing the gap between them, Molly backed up, but had no where to go as she soon had her back to the wall. She was trapped.

'So you did have something to do with her accident.'

'Yeah, I cut her brake lines.' Alex said matter of factly. 'She was going to expose what I had built up.'

'So why didn't you kill me too, you knew I'd seen everything she had.'

'Because,' Alex said as he moved close to putting his hands against the wall on either side of her. 'I loved you.'

'You used me, controlled me, that's not love.' Molly said frantically wondering how the hell she was going to get out of this.

'It's true.' Alex said 'That's why I couldn't do anything to you then, plus you ran. After a while I figured I was safe, but then you had to go and spoil it.'

'You should never have come here, then it would still be secret.'

'Maybe, but the chance to see you again was too good an opportunity to miss.'

'So what now?' asked Molly, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

'Well that's kind of my dilemma.' said Alex smirking at her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back at the Hub Jack was in his office ringing General Andrews to make sure he had got all the information they had sent. Ianto was filing some of the paperwork away in the cabinet in the office.

'General, you got everything we sent you… Good, so you can arrest him with that… What!' Ianto turned at the surprised sound in Jacks voice when he said "what". 'He should have been with you hours ago…Does his car have GPS… Ok I'll deal with it.' Jack hung up the phone and stood up quickly.

'What's going on Jack?' Ianto asked, panic starting to rise in him

'Alex never got back to UNIT' Jack said as he started putting on his coat. 'In fact according to his GPS, his car hasn't even left Cardiff.'

'Oh God, Molly.' said Ianto, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. No answer.

'Ring Jamie if he's not still with her, he should at least be closer. I'll get Gwen.' said Jack. 'Then straight to the SUV.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jamie was sat at traffic lights about half way back to the Hub when his phone rang. 'Hello…Ianto slow down I can't understand what you're saying…' When he realised exactly what he was telling him he said. 'I'm turning round, I'll meet you there.' Jamie did a U turn in the road, silently thankful there was no one else about and started to speed back towards Molly's.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Molly could hear her phone ringing in her bag, but she had no way of getting to it. She hoped that by not answering it, whoever it was might think something was wrong, although they would still have to get to her in time.

'Come back with me, and we'll forget any of this ever happened,' said Alex. 'we could start again.'

'Go to hell' said Molly, and her fighting instinct began to kick in and she did the only thing she could at that time, she lifted her leg and kneed Alex as hard as she could in the groin. He dropped his arms and fell down with a cry of pain. Molly took the opportunity to try and make a break for it, but Alex was too quick and reached out to grab her ankle. Molly fell to the ground, hitting her head as she did so. Alex moved so that he was on top of her, one knee either side of her body, pinning her down. She tried to fight back, but the blow to her head had disorientated her.

'Admirable try Moll, but that just made my decision so much easier.' Alex moved his hands so they were at her throat, and as hard as she tried Molly couldn't fight him, he was too strong and she was still disorientated. Everything around her was hazy, but she was sure she could hear banging on her door. She closed her eyes and prayed that one way or another this would be over soon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took Jamie about two minutes to get back to Mollys flat as he took a leaf out of Jacks book and went as fast as he could. He stopped the car, grabbed his gun and headed to Mollys flat. When he reached the front door, he began knocking on it loudly. When it became clear he wasn't going to get an answer, he kicked the wooden door frame hard, but it didn't quite break so he did it again. He couldn't quite believe he was actually kicking someone's door in, but he had a bad feeling about what could be happening inside. When the door finally gave, Jamie walked carefully into the flat, gun out in front of him. He didn't exactly have the element of surprise so he had to stay alert. He moved down the hallway and as he approached the lounge to his horror he could see that someone was lying on the floor and that it was Molly. As he got to the entrance to the lounge he was taken by surprise as someone grabbed the arm he had outstretched and slammed it into the wall making him drop his gun. Jamie swung round with his other arm and punched Alex hard in the face, knocking him off balance. Jamie went to try and check on Molly, but Alex had recovered and swung at Jamie, but he missed.

'You're too late.' said Alex, looking down at Mollys still form.

'For your sake, I hope not.' said Jamie. He could see his gun just behind where Alex was standing. Jamie hit out again, this time though Alex was quick and moved out of the way. This gave Jamie the opportunity he needed to get to his gun though, he dived down to pick it up and the pointed it straight at Alex, who for the first time looked slightly nervous.

'You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man?' said Alex.

'Try me.' said Jamie. He kept his gun trained on Alex as he moved over to Molly. When he got to her he was relieved to see that she was still breathing. 'Molly', he said quietly, 'Molly, can you hear me?' As he spoke he took her hand in his free one and he noticed that her eyes started to open. He lowered his gun slightly and Alex took his chance and ran for the front door. Jamie knew he should probably go after him, but as Molly was coming round he didn't want to leave her. Then Jamie heard a familiar voice.

'Leaving so soon'. It was Jack, and a moment later Alex backed up into the lounge, hands in the air, as in front of him were Jack, Ianto and Gwen, all with their weapons pointing at him. 'I don't think so.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Molly opened her eyes it was to see Jamie looking down at her. 'Jamie?' she said quietly. She saw a smile of relief cross his face. Molly then tried to sit up, but her head hurt. Jamie helped her into a sitting position, but she needed to lean against him for support, so he put his arm around her. As Molly had woken she had also thought she had heard Jacks voice, and when she looked over she could see Jack, Ianto and Gwen all pointing their guns at Alex as they came into the room. She could see relief on all their faces, then Ianto turned to speak to her, although his gun was still pointed at Alex.

'I never should have let you come home alone.'

'Don't be silly, how could you have known this was going to happen.' Molly said.

'Awww isn't that sweet Moll, someone cares.' said Alex.

'You should shut up.' said Jack, 'because its taking a lot of will power right now not to just shoot you, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that.' Ianto and Gwen nodded in agreement.

'You can't touch me, I have friends in high pla…' Alex was cut of though when he was struck on the side of the head and he slumped to the floor. Everyone looked at Jack.

'What?' he said. 'He just didn't know when to shut up. At least I didn't shoot him.' Jack grinned and the others couldn't help but smile too.

'What are you going to do with him?' asked Molly.

'For now we will take him back to the Hub and lock him in the cells. Possibly with a weevil, I haven't decided yet.' said Jack. 'I don't want you to worry about it.'

As Jack and Gwen moved Alex into a position that would enable them to pick him up to take him to the SUV, Jamie helped Molly up and sat her on the sofa. She resisted looking over at them taking Alex out because she would be quite happy never setting eyes on him again.

Once they had got Alex into the SUV, Jack said. 'Gwen and I will take him back and get him locked up, Jamie I want you to come as well, I need to know what happened in there.'

'I really think I should stay here.' protested Jamie.

'It's ok,' said Ianto. 'I'll be here and I can call you if needed.'

Jamie reluctantly went and got into his car and followed the SUV as it moved away from the flat and went back towards the Hub. Ianto went back inside the flat. He walked into the lounge to where Molly was sitting and gave her a big hug. 'I was so worried.' he said.

'You weren't the only one,' said Molly. 'I thought I was dead. Thank God Jamie got here when he did.' Then pulling away from Ianto she looked around and said. 'Where is he?'

'Jack needed him to go back to the Hub.'

'I never got to say thank you.'

'There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow, you need to rest now.'

Ianto helped Molly up and walked with her to her room. 'I'll be out here if you need anything.'

'Thanks.' Molly smiled and then went over and sat down on her bed. Her head was hurting and as she raised her hand to feel where she had hit it she could feel a slight bump coming. She lay down on her bed, not bothering to get undressed as she was too tired. It didn't take too long before she fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N. There may have been a problem with the uploading of this chapter so i have done it a second time to make sure everythings ok. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, cookies to you all. :) Enjoy the next chapter, it's a little lighter than the last few and you learn a little something more about Jamie. Also i am going to start being nicer to Molly, i may have to be mean to someone else next time.... :)

Chapter 14.

When Molly woke up the sun was streaming in through the window. She blinked and sat up carefully, aware of a dull ache in her head, but it was much better than the night before. She got up and changed out of the clothes she had slept in, and threw on jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt which would do until she had showered. What she really need though was coffee, and Ianto's coffee was sublime first thing in the morning and guaranteed to wake her up. As she walked toward the kitchen she could smell the coffee. Ianto was sat at the table reading the newspaper, Molly headed over and poured herself a drink, before sitting down opposite him. 'Morning. What time is it?' she asked.

'It's 8am, but don't worry Jack isn't expecting us in.' Ianto said smiling at her.

'Really?'

'Yeah it's ok. He will need to speak to you, but said it could wait until you felt better.'

'I want to do that as soon as possible, get it out of the way. I want to see Jamie too.'

Ianto smiled. 'He's already rang me once this morning to make sure you were ok. He cares about you.'

'Well after what happened last night, I'm sure he just wanted to make sure everything was fine.' Molly said, although she was pretty sure that's not what Ianto meant.

'You know what I mean, I always thought he liked you much more than he let on and last night sealed it, he was so worried. You should give him a chance because I have a feeling you like him too.'

'You think you know me so well.' Molly said getting up and playfully slapping his arm.

'Yeah I do, and I think Jamie would be good for you.'

'I'm going to have a shower, then I think we had better go into work.' Molly said changing the subject.

'Change the subject all you want, but you have to face facts sometime.' He shouted after her.

Molly got into the shower and stood under the warm jet of water, thinking about what Ianto had said, and the annoying thing was that he was right. She was attracted to Jamie, but because of Alex she was wary of going out with men. Logically she knew that most men out there were nothing like Alex, but having been treated the way she had by him it was difficult to trust that things wouldn't end up the same. Molly realised though that the thought of Alex had held her back and now that he was being dealt with, he could never hurt her again. She was also aware that Jamie knew about him and some of what she had been through, so maybe if he really did care and after everything that had happened, still did like her that would be one hurdle over. After about twenty minutes Molly decided she should really get out of the shower, so she did, wrapping a towel around her and went into her room to get dressed. After drying her hair she went back through to the kitchen to find Ianto who was waiting.

'Are you sure your ready to go in?'

'I'll be fine, anyway I don't want to sit around here all day. I'm more likely to dwell on it here.' Molly said looking over into the lounge where it had all happened last night. 'Plus the walk will do me good, I need some fresh air.'

Ianto and Molly walked from the flat to the Hub, chatting as they did so about random subjects, trying to keep the atmosphere light. When they entered the Hub, Molly was greeted by Gwen giving her a huge hug. 'How are you?' she asked, then said, 'You may be sick of that question soon though.'

'I'm fine, and it's ok.' Molly smiled at her. Then seeing that Jack was in his office she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, before stepping into the room.

Jack frowned slightly as she came in. 'I didn't expect you to be in today.'

'I'm ok and I need my life to have some normality to it. Well, if you can call this normal.' Molly said smiling.

Jack laughed, 'I'd call it normal.'

'So,' said Molly, 'Where's Alex?'

'UNIT came for him first thing this morning. General Andrews said something about him being lucky if he ever saw the light of day again. He won't come near you ever again.'

'Perfect punishment locking him away. He'll know what it's like to be alone. Will they want to talk to me?'

'Possibly, but for now everything we sent them will be good enough.'

'Good, look if there's nothing else I'm going to go and talk to Jamie.'

Jack grinned. 'That might be a good idea, he's been worried. Look why don't the two of you go and talk somewhere better than here. It's quiet and I think after all the drama of yesterday everyone could do with a day off. Tell Gwen she can go too, if anything happens I can call you. Plus that gives Ianto time to make good on his promise to make things up to me.'

'I really don't want to know.' said Molly. 'Thank you.' She then turned and left the room. She went over to Gwen first and told her that she could go and Gwen was pleased, it would give her the chance to spend time with her daughter. Then as she went towards the medical bay, Ianto walked past her.

'You going to see Jamie?'

Yeah, Jack's giving us the day off, said he'd call if we were needed. Apparently though, you have something to make up for.' She said grinning when Ianto blushed slightly. 'I won't expect you home later then.' Molly carried on walking down into the medical bay, where she found Jamie sitting at his desk. 'Hey'.

He got up and smiled when he saw her, 'Hi, how are you?'

Molly smiled, she was getting slightly tired of the question, but the fact that people cared enough to ask her made her happy. 'I'm fine, slight bump on my head, but the headaches nearly gone.'

'That's good.'

There was a pause then, until Molly walked up to him and put her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. It took him a little by surprise as this was the first time she had ever hugged him. She had hugged the others, but then again she had known them longer. Jamie responded by putting his arms around her waist and hugging her back. He had wanted to do this for a while.

'Thank you.' Molly said as she finally pulled away. 'It doesn't seem quite enough to just say that, but you saved my life, and not for the first time.' She said thinking back to the incident with the aliens.

'I'm just glad I got there in time.'

'Look, Jack has said we can have the day off, so..so..' Molly stumbled over her words slightly, not really knowing why this was a big deal all of a sudden. 'do you want to come and grab a coffee with me over the road. I could use the company.'

'Sure, sounds good.' Then they left together via the cog door, Molly aware that Jack and Ianto were watching them from the office above.

'I think they look good together.' said Jack.

'They do. He'll be good for her, if she's willing to take that step,' said Ianto.

'Do you think she will?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'Enough about them though,' said Jack turning to face Ianto and smiling, 'I believe you were going to make it up to me for leaving the other night.'

'Really, I said that, 'said Ianto innocently.

'Yes you did.'

'Well in that case then…' Ianto trailed off and walked into Jacks office, 'you'd better follow me.'

Jack grinned again and followed Ianto into the office.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Molly and Jamie entered the coffee shop, ordered two drinks and went and sat down in a booth at the far end of the shop.

'Don't tell Ianto this, but I love the cappuccino from here.' Molly said.

Jamie laughed, 'My lips are sealed.'

There was silence for a moment while they both sipped at their drinks, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

'We should do this more often, you know hang out, just two of us.' Molly said quickly, deciding that it was time to move on with her life, and she was lucky that she could.

'I'd liked that.' said Jamie. 'If I'm honest, I've liked you since we met, but I never asked you out because I felt you wouldn't want that. Then I met Alex and I could see why. Are you sure it's what you want?'

'It is. I have let Alex hold me back for too long, although you may have to be patient with me.'

Jamie smiled. 'Ok. I think there is something I have to tell you first though.'

Molly looked at him a little suspiciously, 'Don't tell me you have a crazy ex too.'

Jamie laughed, 'No, none of my exes are crazy. It's just,' he paused wondering how she would take this, 'I have a daughter.'

'Really, how old is she?'

'She's 11 and her names Jess. She lives with her mum and step dad not far from here. Her mum and I split when she was 3. I have her for weekends once a month and some of the holidays. I've never mentioned her before now because, well, I wasn't sure if I was staying with Torchwood to start with, but as I am I needed to tell you.'

'I'm glad you did. So she's nearly a teenager.' said Molly grinning.

'Ugh, don't remind me. She already tries to act older than she is. So your ok with this.'

'Yeah. I will admit I didn't see it coming, but I think it's great you still play such a big part in her life.'

'I can't pretend its been easy, but I love her. Anyway,' Jamie said changing the subject, 'as we have the rest of the day off we should do something.'

'Sure, maybe we could go into town get some lunch?'

'Ok.' Jamie stood up and checked his pocket to make sure his wallet was there, when he realised something else was missing. 'Damn, I left my phone in the Hub. I should go back and get it.'

'That might not be the best idea.' said Molly smiling.

'Why?' asked Jamie puzzled.

'Let me put it this way, we left half an hour ago, Gwen before us, which leaves Jack and Ianto on their own in there.'

It then clicked in Jamie's mind what she was saying. 'Ahh, the phone can wait.' he said laughing. They both left the coffee shop and headed into town, hoping that nothing happened to cancel this day off.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews and to those who have favourited the story. :) I did have slight writers block on this chapter, so i apologise if its not my best. Cookies to reviewers. :)

Chapter 15.

After the unexpected day off the team members had, things soon got back to normal. They had not all been in the Hub long on Friday when the Rift predictor programme started to beep. Molly bought the information up onto her screen, while the others gathered round.

'Something is going to come through in 30 minutes, half a mile from the hospital..hang on..' Molly trailed off and started typing quickly on her keyboard.

'Is there a problem?' asked Jack.

'Yeah, there's another spike. Something's also going to come through on Hope Street.'

'When?'

'At the same time.' said Molly.

'Are you sure?'

Molly turned to look at Jack and fixed him with a stare, 'I may have had problems at first with the when, but I've never had a problem with the where. In half an hour something or some things are coming through the Rift at two separate locations.'

'Great,' said Jack running his hands through his hair. 'Right Ianto and Jamie take the one near the hospital, Gwen and I will take the other one. Molly stay here and monitor the activity and any CCTV you can get hold of for those areas.'

They went to their different work areas to pack up their stuff so that they were ready to go. On his way back up from the medical bay, Jamie stopped by Mollys desk, placing his hand on top of hers. 'Hey, if this doesn't turn into something that takes all night, do you want to do something?'

Molly turned to look at him properly. 'I thought this was your weekend with Jess and that you were picking her up tonight.'

'It was, but it's been changed to next week. One of her friend's Lucy, is having a birthday party tomorrow so she's spending most of the day with her. It would have been pointless her coming over as I wouldn't have seen her much.'

'All day party, wow. What are they doing?'

'They are spending the day at the zoo, then going to the cinema in the evening. Lucy's parents are fairly well off.'

'Sounds cool, I may think about gate crashing considering what we will probably be doing here.' Molly said smiling. 'It would be good to go out though, if we have chance.'

They were interrupted by Ianto coming back over. 'Ready to go.' he said to Jamie. 'Jack and Gwen have already gone.'

'Ok, I assume we will take my car.'

'Of course, there was no way I was getting the keys to the SUV.' said Ianto smiling. 'Let us know if you see anything.' he said to Molly.

'Sure, be careful.' she said, aiming the sentiment at both of them.

They went down to the car park and got into Jamies car, then drove towards the hospital. As they got to the spot where Molly had directed them too, they got out of the car and waited, if the programme was right something should appear in about 5 minutes. Thankfully the area they were in was quiet.

'I hope this is something simple.' said Jamie.

'Could that be because you have a date tonight,' said Ianto.

'Maybe. You know I never thought about what it would be like to see someone you work with, everyone knows everything.' Jamie said thinking about how after he had told Molly about Jess he had had to tell the others too.

Ianto laughed, 'Tell me about it. I think you're good for her though. Molly seems happier than I've seen her in a long while.'

'Is this where you tell me not to screw it up, because I'm aware you look out for her.'

'I don't need to tell you that.' said Ianto.

'Gwen's already suggested some kind of triple date.' said Jamie.

Ianto groaned slightly, 'God don't let her suggest that to Jack, because I'm pretty sure he will picture something entirely different to what she means.'

They were interrupted then when they heard a low rumbling noise that sounded a lot like thunder and a small flash of light. Ianto and Jamie both withdrew their weapons and looked around. There was a flash of movement just ahead of them and they quickly moved after it. They heard Molly over the comms.

'Can you see anything?'

'Not yet, but there was movement, we'll get back to you.'

They saw something move again down an alley, there was a large shadow about half way down and they moved slowly towards it, but it suddenly ducked down behind some bins. Ianto stood by the side of the bin and gestured for Jamie to go around the other side. They took hold of the bin and pulled it forward. There was a rustling and then Jamie jumped back in shock as a cat leapt at him and then ran off down the alley. Ianto couldn't help but laugh slightly at the look on Jamies face.

'That was not funny.' said Jamie.

'It was a little funny.' said Ianto still smiling. 'Thing is we still don't know what came through the Rift.' Ianto pulled out his PDA and started to scan the area. 'Whatever it was definitely stopped behind these bins though.'

'Maybe it was an alien cat?' suggested Jamie. Ianto just rolled his eyes.

'We should go back and see if Jack and Gwen had more luck.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later and all five of the team were gathered in the boardroom.

'Two things definitely came through the Rift, there were energy traces at both locations, the only problem is none of us actually saw what it was.' said Jack.

'I looked at all the CCTV coverage I could find in the areas, but I never saw anything out of the ordinary.' said Molly.

'Yeah the only thing we found was a cat.' said Ianto.

'I would take a cat over that crazy dog that kept barking at us.' said Gwen.

As she said this Jack looked at them all, a sudden realisation dawning on him. 'That's it, it was staring us in the face the whole time.'

'Would you care to enlighten us', said Ianto who was just as puzzled as the rest of them.

'It was the animals.' Jack said as if this explained everything.

The other four continued to stare at Jack, trying to understand what he was saying.

'Are you saying a dog and a cat came through the Rift?' asked Gwen.

'See I wasn't so far off with my alien animal theory.' said Jamie pointedly looking at Ianto.

'No they wouldn't have come through like that.' said Jack. 'Ianto said before they saw the cat, they saw a shadow, so did we. There are some entities that can change their form so that they look like animals, less obvious.'

'You mean like a shape shifter?' said Gwen, shuddering at the memory of the last shape shifter they met.

'Kind of, but they don't take on a human form. There are a number of things that can do this. The only problem is most are vicious and you can only kill them in their true form.'

'Well how do you get them to go into their true form?' asked Molly.

'As a general rule these things only revert to form when they attack, or when they eat.'

'I wish i hadn't asked.' said Molly.

'What we need to do is monitor reports of any animal attacks, they probably won't stick to one form and if they do attack, most people will notice the animal rather than anything else. Molly if you can do that, the rest of us can go out and see if we can see any unusual activity. It's going to be a long night.' said Jack.

'Ok, I'm going to try and see if I can narrow down the search field using the trace signals you picked up earlier.'

They then got up and started to go their separate ways again, Gwen calling Rhys to tell him she was going to be late. Jamie caught up with Molly and said 'Maybe tomorrow night instead?' and she nodded in agreement.

Molly sighed as everyone left the Hub, she poured herself some coffee, and then went and settled herself at her computer. Jack was right, it was going to be a long night.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it is much appreciated.

I couldn't think of a good convincing name for my new alien so i'm just refering to it as a shifter. Enjoy the new chapter, and cookies to reviewers. :)

Chapter 16.

Jack, Gwen, Ianto and Jamie spent the majority of the evening searching the areas around where the shape shifters had come through the Rift, looking for any sign of unusual animal activity. The only problem was they had no way of knowing from a distance if an animal was an ordinary animal, or what had come from the Rift. To get a reading on the trace Rift energy, they had to get fairly close to whatever they saw, and most of the time the animals ran before they got anywhere near.

Molly had been using the databases they had at their disposal to try and work out what type of shifter they were dealing with, as Jack had said that there were many entities that can do this. It did not make for pleasant reading and Molly was hopeful that she would never have to confront this thing. It was getting late when Molly was alerted to a 999 call that could be linked to what they were investigating.

'Jack.' she said over her comms. 'I think I may have something.'

'Where?'

'A call came into emergency services about, and I quote "a wild dog attack" on the outskirts of the park. Victims name is Tom Smith, he's en route to the hospital now.'

'Ok we'll go and check it out. Any luck trying to trace the residual Rift energy?'

'It's faint, but there are some traces around the park. Other than that I can only detect signals around the area the Rift was breeched.'

'Fine, let me know if you find anything else.' Jack said before he cut off the comms.

'Gwen, I'll drop you and Jamie off at the hospital to see if you can get in to see Tom Smith. Ianto and I will head to where the attack took place'

When they reached the hospital, Gwen and Jamie headed straight into accident and emergency where they saw two uniformed police officers stood near the reception desk. Gwen went over to them.

'We're with Torchwood' she said pointing to herself and Jamie. 'I need to see Tom Smith.'

'They are working on him at the moment, and it doesn't look good,' said one of the officers.

'Ok, so then can you tell me what happened?'

'According to the one witness we have, three large dogs appeared near to where Mr Smith was walking his dog and they started to attack him, she said that it also looked like his own dog joined in.'

'His own dog?' Gwen questioned.

'So she said, although she's currently undergoing treatment too, for the trauma all this caused her.'

'What was the witnesses name?' asked Gwen, making a mental note to deal with her later.

'Jane Mason.'

'What happened to the dogs after, did she say.'

'She said she saw them all run off.'

'Ok thank you.' Gwen turned and walked away from the officers and over to Jamie, who had been talking to a nurse while Gwen had been busy.

'Get anything from the nurse?' she asked.

'Yeah, I don't think the guys going to make it. Apparently he has extensive bite marks all over him, some that have severed arteries.'

Gwen felt sick at that thought. 'The strange thing is though,' Jamie continued, 'the nurse said that some of the marks don't look like dog bites, the shapes all wrong.'

'Well Jack did say that they attacked in their true form, maybe it changed when it went for him.'

'I've asked them to send me a copy of everything when they have finished, so I can look through it.'

'Good, I'll let the others know what we've found, then we can get back to the Hub.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack and Ianto were on the edge of the park when Gwen contacted them to let them know what she and Jamie had found out at the hospital, and that they were now on their way back to the Hub. When Gwen had finished giving them the information and hung up her comms, Ianto said, 'That's strange.'

Jack looked at him, 'Strange, how?'

'Gwen just said that three dogs attacked Tom Smith, and that was before his own turned on him too, but only two things came through the Rift.'

'Best case scenario the witness was confused and she counted his own dog as the third. She would have been in shock, events could of got jumbled in her mind.'

'So, what's the worst case scenario?' asked Ianto, anticipating an answer he didn't want to hear.

'Depending on what it actually is that came through, certain entities can multiply as they get more powerful, and others can control other animals. There's one that can do both.'

'Hence Tom Smiths own dog turning on him.' said Ianto. 'Great.'

They then started to scan the area following what residual energy there was. It started to trail off once they reached the main road, so they headed back to the SUV to go back to the Hub. As it was getting really late, Jack contacted the others on the way back to tell them to call it a night, but to be back early the next morning.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By 8am the next morning they were all back at the Hub and sitting round the table in the boardroom. Jack stood at the head of the table and said, 'Are we any closer to identifying what type of shifter this is?'.

'I think I have an idea,' said Molly. 'I was looking through the databases last night and I found one that fits the profile of what we are looking for. There is always more than one, they have a tendency to attack people, and while in their animal form they can control other animals of that type. The only thing is they tend to attack in more crowded areas, they cause a distraction using the animals they control and then can change into their true form and get someone unnoticed as there is panic going on around them. I can only guess that it went for Tom Smith because it was late and it was hungry.'

'Do you know what there true form is?' said Gwen.

'There are no real accurate descriptions, because no one who sees it tends to survive. Apparently they look like shadows, but they do have a solid form, because there is an old Torchwood record that says they killed one. I think the shadow idea is just because they move pretty quick in their real form.'

'These things sound worse than those other aliens we dealt with.' said Jamie.

'It's because they can change, you don't know what it is until it's too late.' said Jack.

'So can they turn into any animal?' asked Jamie.

'It seems that way, but they tend to stick with something unobtrusive so that they don't draw attention to themselves. That's why it's been dogs and cats, no one takes any notice, if they turned into a monkey and went into the centre of Cardiff they would get a lot of unwanted attention.' said Molly.

'That would probably cause a panic, because everyone would think the animals have escaped from the zoo.' said Ianto.

'The zoo', said Jamie with a hint of fear in his voice, although Molly was the only one who picked up on this.

'What about it?' asked Jack.

'You don't think they would go there do you? I mean there would be a lot of people, they could cause a disruption by shifting into something and grab someone there.'

'I doubt it's any more likely than it appearing anywhere else.' said Jack wondering why Jamie was so concerned about this particular place.

Jamie sat looking down at the table for a minute, as if he was having some kind of internal battle within himself. He got up and started to leave the room, 'I'll be back in a minute.' he said as he started to walk away.

'Damn.' said Molly, 'Wait,' she called as she too got up and followed him out of the room, leaving the other three looking on in confusion.

'Am I missing something?' said Jack.

'I think we all are.' said Ianto. 'Obviously it's something only they know about. I'm sure they will be back soon.'

It didn't take Molly long to catch Jamie up. When she did she could see that he was stood with his phone in his hand, but she could tell he was still deciding what to do.

'Don't do it.' said Molly as she walked up to him.

'You don't know what I'm going to do.' he said.

'Yeah I do. You're considering whether or not to ring Jess and tell her not to go to that party today, I knew it as soon as you asked whether or not that shifter would go to the zoo.'

Jamie didn't answer her straight away, she had seen right through him and he knew it.

'What would you even say to her? You certainly can't tell her the truth and if you try and stop her she's going to get upset and probably won't talk to you for a while. Trust me I was good at the silent treatment when my parents said something I didn't like.'

Jamie sighed. 'Call me overprotective, but between working with the police and working here I've found a lot to worry about. All that stuff last year didn't help.'

Molly assumed by that he was talking about the 456, but she wasn't going to ask. She moved closer to him and took his free hand in hers and squeezed it gently. 'The best thing you can do, is to help find a way to stop this. That way you will know she's safe.'

Jamie smiled, 'I suppose your right.'

'I usually am.' said Molly, she then kissed him lightly on the cheek. 'Come on the others will wonder what's going on.'

Jamie followed her back towards the boardroom, still smiling at the brief moment they had just shared, and also hopeful that they could come up with a plan of action.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, i do appreciate it. It also helps me to update quicker. :) This chapter does make a reference to the novel _Pack Animals, _which some of you may have read, if you haven't it is a good read.

Chapter 17.

When Molly and Jamie returned to their seats in the boardroom, Molly noticed a look pass between the other three, but she said nothing.

'Well, now everyone is back in the room, lets see if we can come up with a plan to deal with these shifters.' said Jack. 'Jamie, have you got the information through yet on the victim from last night?'

'Yeah, it came through first thing this morning, not that I've had chance to look at it yet.'

'Ok, go and do that, see if it gives us anything.'

Jamie got up, walked out of the boardroom and down into the medical bay where he started pulling up the notes the doctors from the hospital had sent. Part of him was still worried about Jess, but he also knew that he would worry about her whatever the threat and that he just had to learn how to deal with it better.

Back up in the boardroom, Jack turned to Molly.

'Is Jamie alright?'

'He's fine.' Molly knew it wasn't really her place to tell them what had happened outside, but she had to give them something. 'He just got a little worried when you mentioned the zoo because that's where his daughters spending the day, but he's fine.'

'I can understand that.' said Gwen.

'Yeah, zoos can be a dangerous place. I went on a date there once, didn't end how I would have liked.' said Jack.

'What happened?' asked Molly, noticing that Gwen was trying not to smile.

'Well, I got chewed up by a two headed Brakkanee and my date got turned invisible by alien technology.' Jack said smiling and looking at Ianto.

At this Gwen started laughing, while Ianto looked almost as puzzled as Molly.

'Did that really happen?' asked Ianto.

'Yes. That would be one of the things you don't remember, wouldn't it. You did get turned invisible though.'

'Actually, it was the date at the zoo part I was having trouble believing.' said Ianto.

Jack looked slightly put out by this, 'Gwen, back me up here.'

'It's true, although…' she answered smiling, 'there had been Rift activity in that area.'

'See that sounds more like it.' said Ianto, but he too was smiling.

'The thought was there,' Jack shot back.

'Please don't tell that story to Jamie, because I don't think it will help.' said Molly.

'Enough of memory lane,' said Gwen. 'What are we going to do about these shifters? Do we know how to kill them?'

'I think shooting them would work, but I'm having trouble finding out more. The old record I found wasn't exactly forthcoming with details, I need to do more digging. I believe the bigger problem is the fact we don't know what they look like in their true form.' said Molly.

'The shadow Jamie and I saw yesterday didn't really look like much, it was more like something that you see out of the corner of your eye, but when you look it's gone.' said Ianto.

'That will be because of their speed. Molly answered. 'There has to be something we can do though.'

'Right, I want you and Ianto to keep searching the archives to see if you can find anything else. Gwen, can you check the police report from last night and then keep an eye out for any similar call outs. I'm going to see what Jamie has found.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'This is useless.' said Molly throwing down some papers onto an ever growing pile next to her.

'It's not useless,' said Ianto. 'We're just not getting very far.'

Molly rolled her eyes, 'We've been at this for ages and still we haven't found anything helpful. You would think that they would have accurately described this shifter and how they dealt with it, in case one should ever appear again.'

'Well, the archives aren't as complete as they used to be, but I get your point.'

Molly stood up and started to walk around the room to stretch her legs. 'When we get hold of these shifters, I'm going to make a point of making a detailed record.'

Ianto laughed, 'You mean I will.'

Molly laughed too. 'Let's go back and see what the others have got.'

When they reached the main part of the Hub, they found the others hadn't got much either. Jamie described the marks that had been made on Tom Smith, and how some were not bite marks, but more like slashes, which must have been the shifter in its true form. As they were listening Gwen interrupted, 'There's more 999 calls coming in.'

'Where?' asked Jack.

'Near to the University campus. There are multiple calls from students saying there are dogs roaming the grounds.'

'Ianto and Jamie, I want you to come with me. Molly, monitor the situation from here, Gwen, you stay too. I need you to deal with the police.'

'What are we going to do when we get there though?' asked Ianto. 'We can't be seen to just randomly shoot at these dogs, most of them wouldn't normally behave like this. Plus if we were lucky enough to hit the shifter, it won't die in its animal form.'

'Tranquilisers.' said Jamie suddenly. 'If two of us use tranquiliser guns on any dogs that attack us, it leaves someone with a real gun to shoot the shifter, because I would imagine that if it feels threatened its going to attack.'

'Good plan, go and get what you need.' said Jack.

It took Jamie a couple of minutes to find everything he needed, but the three men were soon in the SUV and on their way to the University. Gwen got on to the police and told them that they were dealing with the situation.

'Do you think they'll be able to stop these shifters?' Molly asked Gwen.

'I hope so,' said Gwen, 'I hope so.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With Jack driving it didn't take them long to get to the University campus. It was fairly quiet and Jack suspected that most of the people around had taken refuge somewhere. They walked across the grounds, Ianto and Jamie armed with tranquiliser guns and Jack with his gun. After a few minutes they could hear the sound of barking. All three of them took off at a run in the direction it was coming from. They stopped when they saw a group of around eight fairly vicious looking dogs surrounding a young girl who looked like a student. Jack raised his gun in the air and fired it as a distraction. All of the animals turned and looked in their direction. Sensing the threat they started over towards where Jack, Ianto and Jamie were standing.

'This does not look good.' said Ianto, aiming his weapon at the animals coming towards him.

'Wait.' said Jack. 'We don't want to provoke them into attacking.'

'So we just wait while they surround us?' questioned Jamie.

'Better us than that girl over there.' answered Jack, and he could see that the girl had now run off in the direction of the main building as the dogs attention was elsewhere. 'Plus if they are all together we might be able to work out which one's the shifter. If we can stop the shifter the link with the other dogs will be broken'

They stood there back to back, all with weapons pointing outwards while the dogs surrounded them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gwen and Molly were in the Hub waiting for news, when an alert sounded on the monitor again.

'What now?' sighed Gwen.

'Oh no.' said Molly. 'We have a problem. A big problem.'

'I hate to ask, but what?'

'More 999 calls, same as before. There are reports of a group of dogs, except this time they are coming from the city. Apparently they have been behaving strangely near to the shopping centre and multiplex cinema.'

'There were two shifters, they must have split up to cover more ground.'

'What are we going to do? The others are busy at the Uni.'

'We are going to have to go,' said Gwen. 'There should still be one tranquiliser gun left.' Gwen hurried down to the medical bay and found the gun she was looking for. 'Come on, we can take my car and let the others know on the way.'

As they hurried towards the car park Molly activated her comms. 'Jack.'

'Little busy right now.' came the reply.

'I realise that, but so are we. There's more reports of strange animal behaviour in town, so Gwen and I are going to check it out. We think the shifters have split up.'

'Ok, just be careful.'

Molly got into the passenger side of the car and Gwen sped out of the car park towards town. Both of them hoping they weren't too late to stop something bad from happening.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N. Sorry it's been a while since i last updated, but i've had a lot on recently, life can be a pain sometimes lol. Hopefully updates will be slightly more frequent again now. :) Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and i hope you enjoy the new one.

Chapter 18.

Jack, Ianto and Jamie stood in the middle of the dogs surrounding them, none of them moving a muscle. The animals stayed just as still, almost as if they were waiting for a command.

'Any ideas on getting out of this would be appreciated,' said Jamie, 'I don't think I can stand here much longer.'

'We need to force the shifter into it's true form.' said Jack, 'That will break the link with the other dogs and give us something to shoot.'

'Problem is, we need it to attack before we can do that.' Ianto pointed out.

Jack looked around at the eight dogs that surrounded them. There was no fool proof way of telling which one was the shifter. 'I'm going to make them attack me.'

'What!'

'I'll make a run for it, then when they go for me, you can shoot the one that changes.'

'That's your solution for everything,' said Ianto. 'Throw yourself in harms way.'

'Better me than either of you two.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. It was typical of Jack to offer to sacrifice himself to save the others, but he never thought about the effect that had on the others. Ianto hated to see Jack die, even though he knew he came back, he had a deep fear that one day he wouldn't.

As they were working out what to do the dogs surrounding them had started to close in, almost as if they knew they were planning something. Jamie was the one to notice this as the others were talking. 'Er guys, did you ever consider that the shifter might be able to understand us?'

Jack and Ianto looked at the pack closing in, realisation dawning on them that they were going to all have to make a move. 'Ok' Jack whispered, his voice just audible in case the shifter could indeed understand them. 'On a count of three, tranquilise the nearest dog to you, then run in the direction the SUV as it's away from the building. Hopefully the shifter will show itself.' Jack looked round as the others nodded. 'Ready, 1...2...3!'

At the same time Ianto and Jamie fired their tranquiliser guns at the dogs in front of them, both of which instantly fell down where they were. They all started to run in the direction of the SUV with the animals following them. One of these animals though was faster than the others and lunged forward towards the three men. It propelled itself forward with such power it was obvious it was the shifter. First it aimed its leap at Jack, but he saw it and quickly managed to move out of its way. This did not stop it though, and it leapt again, this time at Ianto who was not quite as quick as Jack. The shifter, still in its animal form knocked him off his feet and he hit the ground with a thud. Jack ran over towards it and fired his gun, hitting it twice, but since it was not in its true form it was useless. He tried to get closer, but found himself surrounded by the other dogs. The shifter leapt at Ianto again who tried to roll out of its way, but did not get far enough and the shifter dug it's claws into his leg to stop him, causing Ianto to cry out with the pain. Jamie ran back and raised his gun and hit the shifter as hard as he could, as he knew firing at it would have no effect. This stunned the shifter enough that it let go of Ianto, but then turned its attention to Jamie. This time though before any of them could register what was happening it changed, becoming a blur as it moved at Jamie. Jack fired his gun in the air and the five dogs, now not under the control of the shifter ran away from him. Jack hurried over to where Ianto and Jamie were. Ianto was pulling himself up to his feet, he had dropped his tranquiliser gun and was pulling his other gun out of the waistband of his trousers.

Jamie took a moment to register what was happening before he saw a blur of shadow coming towards him. It flung itself at him and he fell back. He tried to raise his gun, but it was useless. The thing was starting to tear at him, he could feel something slash across his right shoulder. Then he heard the sound of gunfire, and all of a sudden there was a bright flash of light, and whatever had been on top of him was gone, all that was left was a fine dust. He lay there for a moment trying to get his breath back. He then heard Jacks voice above him. 'You ok?'

'I think so.' Jamie answered as he carefully got up, holding his shoulder as he did so. 'I'm just glad I'm left handed. You ok?'

'Fine, I think you were right about it understanding us.' Jack said. Jamie then noticed that Ianto was leaning on Jack for support.

'Ianto, you ok?.' Jamie asked, ignoring his own wound for a minute and going into doctor mode.

'It's just where it got me in the leg. It will be fine.' Ianto said, but he winced as he started to walk towards the SUV.

'Let me patch it up for now, I can do it properly back at the Hub.'

'What about your shoulder?' Ianto pointed to Jamies right side where blood was starting to seep through his shirt.

'I can patch that up best I can for now too.'

They all walked over to the SUV and Jamie got to work patching himself and Ianto up as best he could for now. Jack tried to contact Gwen over the comms, but she didn't answer. Jack had a bad feeling, there were many reasons Gwen might not have answered, she could have lost her comms, she might be in a situation that meant she had to keep quiet and couldn't answer or… He wouldn't allow himself to finish that thought.

'Right, we need to head over to town now and find Gwen and Molly. That is if you're both ok, I can go on my own.'

'No.' said Ianto, 'We're coming with you.'

All three men got into the SUV, Ianto and Jamie only just getting their seatbelts on in time before Jack hit the accelerator and started speeding towards town, where he hoped Gwen and Molly were both ok.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gwen and Molly reached the town centre fairly quickly, and found that the police had already cordoned off the area around the cinema. They got out of the car and Gwen went up to the officer in charge of the cordon. As soon as she said Torchwood, the officer rolled his eyes, but let them through. Gwen could see that there was quite an audience around the cordon, probably people that had been evacuated from the cinema. She groaned slightly though when she noticed that the press were there too. As Gwen walked towards the cinema, she could see her old partner Andy. She went straight up to him. 'What's going?'

'Gwen, what are you doing here. I doubt this is something for you to be concerned with, just some wild dogs running loose.' He said.

'You'd be surprised. Where are they?'

'In the cinema. Still not sure how they got in there, but they caused a right panic. We think there maybe some kids still stuck in there though.'

'And nobodies gone in to get them?' Gwen said incredulously.

'No, we're waiting for back up from the dog handlers, and some tranquiliser guns.'

'You have to let us in, we can stop them.'

Andy looked at her quizzically, but thought better of asking any more because he knew he'd never get a straight answer. He led Gwen and Molly over to the officer in charge. Gwen explained that they needed to go in, and after a few tense minutes of heated debate, she got her way.

Gwen and Molly were let into the cinema through it's main doors at the front. They walked slowly through the front area where the ticket desk and confection stands were. There was a lot of popcorn spilt over the floor from where people must have started running away from whatever was in there.

'So what's the plan?' asked Molly, when they were inside and away from anyone that could hear.

'A plan would suggest we were prepared', said Gwen. She then sighed. 'Ok, we need to find out if there are still people in the building and get them out as soon as possible. Hopefully before they see anything other than wild dogs, because there's a lot of people about and retconning all that lot is out of the question.'

'Well, if there are still people in here, they must be either in one of the screens already or somewhere near the back, that's why they never ran out with the others.'

'Lets go.'

Gwen and Molly walked silently up the short staircase that led them the corridor with all the screens leading off from it. After walking a few paces, Gwen held her hand up to Molly to stop her, and then put a finger to her lips. They both listened quietly as the muffled sound of crying reached them, mixed in with low growls. Gwen and Molly hurried around the corner and stopped dead at the sight that greeted them. Huddled outside one of the screen doors was a group of seven young looking girls, and penning them into the corner were six rather large dogs. Gwen and Molly both realised that this was going to be a lot harder than they anticipated.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N. Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I didn't think i would get the next one up so quick, but here it is. It is also a slightly longer chapter. Reviews as always are much appreciated. :)

Chapter 19. 

Gwen and Molly both stepped back around the corner as quietly as they could, before either the dogs or the girls had noticed them.

'Ok,' said Gwen. 'Our first priority is to get those girls out of here.' Molly nodded in agreement.

'Diversion?' Molly asked.

'Yeah, problem is we have no where to go. We don't want the animals following us back towards the front, I don't want an audience when we take the shifter down.'

'We need to get those girls into the screen room.' said Molly. 'Think about, all those screens have to have fire exits, if we can divert the dogs attention for long enough, they can escape that way.'

'Good idea, and those doors pull open so the dogs won't be able to follow them.'

'What about the shifter?'

Gwen thought for a moment. 'I suppose it's entirely possible that it can follow us in there, but at least it will separated from the rest of the dogs. Ok, so we get those girls into that room and out of the fire exit. If the shifter follows us, we'll have it trapped in there and can kill it. If not we can come back out here once they've got out.'

Or it will have us trapped, Molly thought to herself. 'Well it sounds good in theory.'

Gwen smiled, 'Come on'.

Both of them rounded the corner again, guns raised. Molly had the tranquiliser gun, but she knew she would only manage to get one of the dogs if she was lucky. This time one of the girls saw them and let out a small gasp when she did. This made the dogs turn and look at the two women who had come around, they started to growl and the girls huddled as far into the corner as they could get. Gwen took a tentative step forward, maintaining eye contact with the girls and trying not to look at the dogs. 'It's going to be ok. We are going to get you out of here. My names Gwen, and this is Molly.'

Before Gwen had any more time to explain what they wanted to do, the dogs moved in on her and Molly. Molly fired the tranquiliser gun, knocking out one of the approaching animals. Gwen quickly moved to the side out of the way of one that leapt at her. 'Get in there' she yelled to the girls as she pointed at the door to the screen room. Although they were all scared they got up and one of them pulled the door open allowing the others to get through. While they were getting through the door, Gwen and Molly realised that the dogs had stopped attacking.

Gwen gasped. 'Molly look, there's only four dogs now, plus the one you've knocked out. There were six.'

Mollys eyes widened as she took in Gwens words. 'Damn, it must have changed and gone through the door.'

'Well we knew it was a risk, come on.'

Gwen and Molly pulled open the doors that the girls had gone through and walked into the darkened room. It was eerily silent, except for muffled sounds coming from the back row of seats. Gwen looked around and saw a shadow pass over the wall. 'It's definitely in here, we need to get them out.'

Molly walked over to the girls and bent down so that she was on the same level as them. 'Hey, I know you're all scared, but we are going to get out of here. We are going to use that fire exit down there ok.'

'I..I..I think one of those dogs followed us in here.' said one of the girls.

Molly sighed, it would be no good to lie, not that she was going to tell them the whole truth. 'Yeah, one did come in, but Gwen and I, we won't let it get any of you.'

'Are you with the police?' asked another of the girls.

'Something like that. Come on, I want you to follow Gwen to the door, and I will be right behind.'

The girls filed out from where they were hiding and followed Gwen, while Molly stayed at the back. Both Gwen and Molly keeping alert for any movement. Just as they reached the door and started to push it open, a shadow crossed the white screen and Gwen was knocked off her feet. The girls let out a scream. Molly was torn at what to do, she turned to the girl who was stood next to her as she was relatively calm compared to the others, and said urgently. 'I need you to get everyone out, run as fast as you can back around the front of the building, and don't look back.'

The girl grabbed her arm. 'What about you?'

'I have to go and help my friend, but we will be right behind you. Just remember, don't look back.'

Molly ran over to where Gwen had fallen and could see her struggling with an unseen force, she took her other gun out of her jacket and fired in its direction.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack reached the cinema in record time. He pulled up in the SUV and marched through the cordon, with Ianto and Jamie following close behind. He hadn't given the police officer at the cordon any time to say anything as he went through saying 'Torchwood.' As soon as he got to the front of the cinema, he started towards Sergeant Walker who was in charge, but Andy intercepted him.

'Captain Harkness.' he said and gestured for him to move out of Sergeant Walkers line of sight. 'Best not disturb Sergeant Walker, he's still getting over the ear bashing Gwen gave him.'

Jack smiled, that sounded like Gwen. 'What's going on here, where are Gwen and Molly?'

'They went inside about fifteen minutes ago.'

'Have you heard anything going on in there?'

'No. Which is strange considering there are supposed to be six large dogs in there. I told them they should wait for back up from the dog handlers, but they wouldn't listen once they knew there were kids still in there.'

'How many kids?'

'Not sure, it was a party of them, some got out, but they couldn't tell us how many were left behind.'

Jack thought for a moment, they had to get in there. The odds had been bad back at the University, but this seemed worse as there were others involved. He turned to the others, 'Jamie, you and I are going in.'

'Hey what about me?' Ianto said somewhat disgruntled.

'You are having trouble walking, there's no way you can run if things go bad. I am not putting you in that situation.'

'So what I stay out here and do nothing.'

Jack put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'Look, someone needs to stay out here and deal with the police. I'm sure you will be far more successful than I ever would be.'

'Fine.' He could see Jacks point, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Before they could move though, they heard something from around the side of the cinema. Jack, Ianto and Jamie all put their hands over their guns, but were all secretly praying they weren't about to have to use them with so many people about. To their surprise though, it wasn't the animals that came round the corner, but seven girls, who all looked very relieved at the site of the policemen. One of them though stopped and looked in their direction. 'Dad' she said, and then ran straight at Jamie, literally throwing herself at him.

'Jess.' said Jamie in confusion. He bent down and hugged her tight. 'What are you doing here, I thought you were spending the day at the zoo.'

'We did, but then we came here after.'

It then clicked in Jamies mind that she had told him this. He then realised the irony of the fact that he'd been so worried that something could happen at the zoo, he hadn't even contemplated the fact that the cinema would be the dangerous place to go. He was actually a little pleased that he had forgot she had told him she would be here, or else he would have gone crazy with worry.

'Are you hurt?' he asked her.

Jess shook her head, 'I'm ok, but you have to go and help the two ladies that helped us.'

At this Jack and Ianto both came closer so that they could hear what she had to say. Ianto bent down to speak to her. 'Hi, Jess right.' She nodded again. 'Hi, I'm Ianto, this is Jack,' he said pointing behind him. 'We work with your dad, can you tell us what happened in there.'

Jamie took her hand and said 'It's ok. Tell us what happened.'

Jess then proceeded to tell them how they had got separated from the others in the group when the dogs had appeared, and that they couldn't run away from them. She then told them about how Gwen and Molly had got them to the fire exit. 'Molly then told me that I needed to get everyone out of the door, and that we were not to look back. She said she had to help Gwen, and then they would be right out.' Jess looked around fearfully, 'but I can't see them.'

'It's ok,' said Jack. 'We are going to go and get them.'

Jamie turned to his daughter, 'I have to go and help Jack, but you are safe now. I will be right back. I want you to stay here with Ianto, if that's ok?' he said looking at Ianto.

'That's fine, we will wait right here.' He held out his to her. Jess looked between her dad and Ianto for a moment, then let go of Jamies hand and took Iantos.

Jack and Jamie then headed up to the cinema and were let in through the main doors.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Molly had fired at the shadow that was attacking Gwen, it diverted its attention to her. She saw it as it crossed over the screen again, and although she tried to move it hit her back and she fell forward. The only small consolation was that as she fell she saw the last of the girls going out of the fire exit and the door closing behind, at least they would be safe. Molly felt the shifter swipe sharp claws across her face, making her cry out. Gwen had managed to pull herself up and although her arm was injured she raised her gun and fired as fast as she could at the shadow. There was a bright flash of light and then it was gone. Molly rolled over as she felt the weight lift off her, and saw scattered by her side a fine dust. Gwen came over to her and helped her up. Just as they were about to make a move to leave, the door had they had entered in through earlier burst open, and there stood Jack and Jamie.

'Typical,' said Gwen, 'the men always show up when the hard work is over.'

Molly laughed. Jack and Jamie walked down toward them. When they got there Jamie pulled Molly into a fierce hug, taking her a little by surprise.

'What was that for?' she asked.

'Two things. The first I'm glad you are ok, and second is to thank you.'

Molly looked at him confused. 'Thank me?'

'Yeah, Gwen too.' Jamie then gave her a hug too, although not in quite the same way he had hugged Molly. 'Jess was one of the girls that you helped get out of here.'

Molly wasn't sure what to say to this so she just pulled him into another hug.

'Come on.' said Jack 'We need to get going. The police can handle the animals that are left. We need to get back to the Hub so everyone can be patched up properly.'

They walked out of the cinema together. Jack went over to Sergeant Walker to tell him that the scene was now all his. Jamie went over to where Ianto was sitting with Jess, Gwen and Molly going with him. Then when Jess had been reunited with the rest of the group she had been with, and Jamie had been reassured that all the girls were going to be taken straight home, he joined the others and they headed back to the Hub.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N. I think i might give the various couples some quality time together in the next chapter, but then that might depend on how nice i'm feeling. :)


	20. Chapter 20

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews of the last chapter, and for the people who put the story on alert, and favourite. :) So i decided to be nice and write a romantic chapter. This chapter is Jamie/Molly and of course Jack/Ianto, i will do something nice for Gwen/ Rhys in the next one. This is my first full chapter of this kind so please be nice. I'm going back to drama after this, it much easier lol.

Chapter 20.

Molly stood surveying the chaos that was her bedroom. Most of the contents of her wardrobe were strewn across her bed as she couldn't decide what to wear. She was starting to get frustrated with herself, it wasn't like it was her first date with Jamie, but still she wanted to get it right. Eventually, after changing three times she decided on a purple dress that she had bought not too long ago and hadn't worn yet. She looked at her watch and realised that if she didn't get a move on she was going to be late. She hurried out of her room and went into the lounge to find her bag.

'You finally made your mind up then.' said Ianto. 'I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming out of your room.'

'Funny.' replied Molly. 'I just couldn't decide. It's so much easier for men. Anyway, do I look ok?'

'You look great, Jamie's going to love it.'

'Thanks. I'm going to have to get a move on, or else I'll be late.'

'Is he not picking you up?'

'No, he has to drop Jess off home first, so I said I'd meet him at the restaurant. What about you, when's Jack coming round.'

'He should be here soon.' said Ianto nervously glancing at the clock on the wall.

'You ok?' Molly asked, 'because you look a little nervous.'

'Yeah, I suppose I am a little, stupid really, but this is the first time Jack has been over here for a reason other than work.'

'Ahh you mean for some other reason than saving my life.' Molly grinned.

Ianto smiled back at her, then said. 'It's one thing staying with Jack at the Hub, but having him over here, makes the relationship more real somehow.'

'You still haven't told him how you feel, have you?'

'Not in so many words no.'

Molly went over to him and gave him a hug. 'Maybe you should.'

Just then there was a knock at the door. 'I'll get it on my way out. Have a good night.' said Molly as she walked to the door.

'You too.' said Ianto.

Molly opened the door and let Jack in. 'Hi Jack.'

'Hi. Look at you.' Jack said at he took in Molly's appearance. 'Jamie's a lucky guy.'

'Thanks.' replied Molly blushing slightly. 'Anyway, I have to go.'

'Have a good night, and don't do anything I wouldn't do.' said Jack grinning.

Molly turned back to look at him, 'There's nothing you wouldn't do.' she said, laughing as she left the flat.

The walk to the restaurant only took ten minutes and when she got there she saw Jamie waiting outside. 'Hi'. she said as she reached him.

'Hi.' Jamie said and then kissed her on the cheek. 'You look beautiful.'

Molly blushed, 'Thank you, you look great too.' Jamie was wearing black trousers, a deep blue shirt and jacket. They went into the restaurant and were seated at their table. 'This place is lovely.'

Jamie smiled, 'Yeah, I love it here, and I thought a meal would be better than a trip to the movies considering what happened last week.'

'Yeah, those shifters have a way off putting you off a place.' she said laughing. Before she could say anything else a waiter came over and took their order. He came back a couple of minutes later with a bottle of wine and poured each of them a glass.

'So how is Jess?' Molly asked.

'She's fine, couldn't stop talking about you and Gwen though.'

'Has she dealt with what happened ok?'

'Yeah, as far as her and all her friends are concerned it was just a bunch of dogs that went a bit wild. Kate said she thought it might hit her later on, but she was fine. I think she's still young enough not to think about the consequences of something like that. Sure it was scary at the time, but kids are tough. Jess certainly is, I swear sometimes she thinks she's an adult.'

'They grow up quick these days.' Molly said. The waiter then came back over carrying their orders and set them down on the table. Molly took a mouthful of her pasta, then after said. 'Does she know about us?'

'No, I wanted to see how things progressed between us first, plus I will only tell her when your ok with me doing so.'

'It's ok, you can tell her. I'd like to get to meet her properly.'

They then carried on eating her dinner, it was strange having someone that cared about what she thought, cared about her. After everything with Alex she never thought she would trust a guy in this way again. After they had finished eating they sat and they talked, sharing everything important to them. Molly told Jamie about her parents and how she had rebuilt her life here after Alex, although she didn't actually mention him by name. In return Jamie told her about his parents, and how they still lived near by, and more about Jess. He had only been 20 when she was born, but he never regretted that she was. It was starting to get late, so after Jamie paid the bill, refusing to let Molly pay half, they got up and left the restaurant.

'So,' said Jamie, 'Do you want to come back to mine.'

Molly smiled and then held out her hand to Jamie, which he took. 'Sure, it'll be nice to see where you live.' They walked hand in hand to Jamies flat. Molly felt happier than she had in a long time. Jamie too, was happy, he finally felt that Molly was completely relaxed with him when they were alone. The first few times they had gone out, it had been a little awkward at times, Jamie suspected that Alex had a lot to answer for. He knew he didn't know the whole story of what had happened and he didn't ask, but he still felt at times that Alex was a shadow hanging over Molly, and Jamie was determined to banish it. When they reached the flat Jamie opened the door and held it for Molly to go through. It was a fairly spacious flat. Molly walked into the lounge and looked around, it was full of photographs. Jamie and his family, and with Jess. Molly smiled, she wished she had more things like this, but she had few photos of her mom and dad. 'It's a really nice place you have here.'

'Do you want anything?' Jamie asked.

'No, I'm fine, better than fine actually.'

Jamie walked over to her and put his hands around his shoulders leaning in to kiss her. Molly responded by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back. When they broke apart Jamie looked at her and said, 'Stay.' Molly answered by kissing him again, which Jamie took as a yes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack walked towards the lounge of the flat. He had been here before, but this was the first time that Ianto had asked him to come over after work. Usually they just stayed at the Hub spending their time in Jacks small room under his office. He had considered making a proper room when the Hub had been rebuilt, but he wanted things the way they had been before. Jack saw that Ianto was in the kitchen, pouring drinks so he went up behind him and put his arms around his waist. Ianto smiled and leaned back into Jack. 'Hi.'

'Hi,' said Jack. Ianto turned round and kissed Jack gently. 'So, we have the place to ourselves right?' Jack asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

'Yes, I'm not expecting Molly home.'

'So, what are we going to do?' Jack replied as he took off his coat and laid it over one of the kitchen chairs.

'I've ordered take out, I thought we could eat it while watching a movie, and then see where the night takes us. You know, have a night in like normal couples do for once, without worrying about aliens appearing from the Rift.'

Jack smiled, 'Normal couple?'

'Oh I forgot, you don't like the word couple do you.'

'I never used to, but now I don't mind. I was querying the normal part.'

Ianto laughed, 'yeah, normal might be pushing it.'

The doorbell rang and Ianto went and got the food delivery. They sat on the sofa eating the Chinese, watching an action movie. When the food had been eaten, and the empty boxes lay on the table in front of them Ianto sat with his head leaning on Jacks shoulder. Jack had his arm round him, running his fingers absentmindedly through Iantos hair. At the end of the film, Ianto sat up and picked up the remote to turn off the DVD, as he sat back he suddenly found himself being kissed by Jack. He responded by deepening the kiss, and as he did he found himself getting pushed backwards until he was lying on the sofa with Jack on top of him. When they eventually broke apart, Ianto looked up at Jack and said what he had been feeling for a long time, what he hadn't been able to say again before now.

'I love you.'

Jack smiled and sat up, he had been waiting to hear Ianto say this again for a long time. Ianto had been the one to say it in Thames House on that awful day when Jack had lost him, but Jack had not said it back. Then when Jack had been given a second chance with Ianto, he had been the one to say it. He tried so hard not to fall in love, but he couldn't help it with Ianto, he had been attracted to him since the day they met and he wasn't going to miss the chance to say it again.

'I love you too.' said Jack, pulling Ianto up into a tight embrace. He started to kiss Ianto again trailing gentle light kiss down his jaw until he reached his mouth. This kiss started gently, then started to get more passionate, Jack ran his tongue across Ianto lips seeking entrance, which Ianto happily gave.

After a while Ianto pulled away and said, 'You know, I believe you've been in this flat twice now, but there's one room you've never been in.'

'Which is?' said Jack, knowing what the answer would be, but playing along anyway.

'Mine' said Ianto.

'Well, I think that's a mistake that needs to be rectified immediately.' answered Jack.

Jack stood up, pulling Ianto with him, he kissed him again and said, 'Lead the way'.

Ianto took Jacks hand and led him towards his room, feeling happier than he had in a long time. He had finally told Jack how he felt and he was pleased Jack had said it back. At that moment in time it felt like nothing could shatter what they had. Ianto also knew that the night was still young and was going to get even better.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N. Make the most of the nice stuff in this chapter because (and i know this is teasing) through no fault of their own, someone is going to go bad *evil cackle* I'm just not sure which of two people it will be yet. :) Don't worry it won't be permanent.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N. Thank you for all your reviews for the last chapter, I'm glad it went down well. I have also noticed that I'm nearly at 100 reviews now and that makes me very happy, so thank you again. I hope you enjoy the next chapter, it went through many rewrites before I was even vaguely happy with it. :) My inspiration for this again comes from watching a little too much Supernatural. I think at some point i may write a crossover. :)

Chapter 21.

Gwen was sat on a picnic blanket in the park, watching Rhys pushing Mary on the baby swings. It was so rare that she had a morning off like this that she was making the most of it. Gwen had been keeping an eye out for any Rift activity the night before so that Jack, Ianto, Jamie and Molly could go out on their various dates. Jack had in turn given Gwen the morning off to spend some quality time with her family. It was hard for Gwen sometimes, Mary was growing up so fast, and she worried that she would miss some of the milestones in her life. Sat here now though, they were just like a normal family, no aliens in sight. After a while Mary started to get bored of the swing so Rhys took her out and bought her back over to where Gwen was sitting. Mary climbed on to Gwen's lap and started to drink from her juice cup that had been nearby. Rhys sat down next to her and kissed Gwen on the cheek.

'It would be nice to have more days like this,' he said.

'Yeah,' said Gwen, 'We should make a point of doing things as a family when we can.' She then glanced down at her watch, 'I have to get going.'

'Really, can't you stay a little longer.'

'No, I only had the morning off, but I will try and get out early.' Gwen said as she stood up with Mary. She gave her little girl a hug and a kiss and then handed her down to Rhys. 'See you later sweetheart.'

When Gwen got to the Hub she found that the others were gathered in the boardroom. She made her way up there and took her place. 'Afternoon everyone,' she said smiling.

'Glad you could join us,' said Jack.

'Hey, you're the one that gave me the morning off,' Gwen said, then realised that he was laughing. Jack had been winding her up and she had fallen for it. 'What's going on?'

'We're not completely sure yet,' said Jack.

'Has something come through the Rift?' asked Gwen, confused by Jacks last answer.

'Yes, but we are not entirely sure when.'

'Ok, I'm confused. Is there some kind of threat?'

'Let me explain.' said Jack, 'There have been instances in the last few days of people carrying out violent attacks on people they know. None of these people have ever done anything like this before, they just started acting completely out of character. It starts off as paranoia, then builds up.'

'Maybe these people are on drugs or something,' said Gwen. 'I'm not understanding how this is our problem? Sounds like something the police should be dealing with.'

'I would have agreed with you, until Jamie here, was sent the results of a blood sample that was found at the scene of a fight. There is something in it that is not found on any database.'

Jamie took up then where Jack left off. 'It's the strangest thing to look at, there's something clinging on to the red blood cells, I can't determine what it is yet as I would need a better sample, but it definitely didn't originate here.'

'So these people are infected with something alien?' asked Molly.

'Seems that way,' said Jamie.

'What happens to these people?'

'No one knows. After each of the violent outbursts these people have shown, they've disappeared. No one has seen them since.'

'Disappeared?' asked Gwen, 'What sort of disappeared.'

'All the people who were showing signs of the paranoia kept saying they had to leave wherever it was they were at the time. If they thought people were trying to stop them, they got angry, upset and eventually violent. They then leave, and no one has seen them again.'

'Do you have any idea what this could be?' asked Gwen.

'That's the tricky part. Whatever it is could have come through the Rift in lots of different ways. It could have come through with something or on something. The problem with viruses like this, is that they are usually harmless to what ever carries them. Humans though react differently when exposed to it. Also it might be an accident that these people have been exposed to it, or something has a reason for doing it.' said Jack.

'You mean something could be deliberately infecting people, why?' said Jamie.

'Many reasons, to cause chaos, feed off the paranoia, kill. We need to find the source of the virus so that we can stop it.'

'How do we find it though?' asked Ianto.

'There must be a link between these people somehow. It can't be airborne or else the whole of Cardiff would be going crazy.' said Jack. 'If we get a decent enough sample of the virus, it might give off some Rift energy. Then maybe Molly can get a trace on it.'

The team sat around trying to take in all the information that was being given and the task was beginning to feel enormous. They were also wondering how something like this could have got through unnoticed, but nobody wanted to say that out loud.

'So what do we do now?'

'Unfortunately, it's a case of waiting. We need to keep an eye on police reports of any disturbances that could be connected to this, until then we carry on with our work.'

They didn't have to wait too long before Molly saw a call coming into 999 about a domestic disturbance nearby. A neighbour was calling to say that the person next door was breaking the windows in their house and shouting 'you can't stop me'. Molly intercepted the call and pretended to be the police and said that someone would be out immediately. Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Jamie, all headed as fast as they could to the SUV. Jamie making sure to take his medical kit in case he had to use something to subdue this man.

When they reached the address, they saw that the man in question seemed to be on some kind of rampage. He had blood on him from where it looked like he had been breaking the windows with his fist, all the while shouting about being kept prisoner.

'We take this carefully,' said Jack. 'Gwen, I want you to go to the neighbours and find out what you can. Ianto and Jamie with me.'

They approached the man carefully, but as soon as he saw them he charged at them, with a piece of glass in his hand, yelling 'You can't keep me here!'

Jack tried to stop the man, but he was knocked clean off his feet. As he went for Ianto and Jamie they both stepped out of his way to avoid ending up on the floor like Jack. The man stumbled and they went to grab him. As they went for him he lashed out and managed to scratch Ianto. Jack had got back up and this time managed to grab hold of the man, only just keeping hold of him while Jamie gave him a sedative. The man slumped unconscious to the floor and let go of the glass which Jamie kicked out of the way. Then as Gwen came back over they loaded him into the back of the SUV.

'I spoke to the neighbour, she says his name is Sam Green and up until today has been the perfect neighbour, but he just went crazy.'

'Ok when we get back to the Hub, I need you and Molly to run a background check on him and see how he could have got infected, and if he's linked to the man whose blood sample we saw. Jamie, I will need you to confirm that he is infected, but it seems pretty likely.' said Jack. He turned to Ianto and Jamie, 'Are both of you ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?'

'No', said Jamie.

'No, it's just a scratch. Barely broken the skin.' said Ianto showing his hand to Jack, and then Jamie.

'Just make sure you clean it when you get back.' said Jamie.

They all got back into the SUV and headed back to the Hub. When they got there, they put Sam into the cells and Jamie took some blood samples to run tests on. Gwen and Molly got on with trying to find out more on Sam. Ianto cleaned up his hand and then headed down to the archives, to see if he could find any other past cases. A few hours later, Jamie came up out of the medical bay and said, 'He's definitely affected by the virus.'

'No surprises there,' said Jack. 'Take a second sample and see whether anything has changed over time. We need to know if it gets any better or worse.'

'Sure, I have a few more tests to run first though.' said Jamie and he headed back towards the medical bay.

'Gwen, anything useful.'

'I know how he came into contact with it. Sam works with Dan Smith, the guy who's blood sample Jamie got sent. Sam was the one Dan fought with. I'm going back through some of the other arrest records of the incidents from the past few days to see if any of the others were connected to them.'

'Ok, that's a start, it's just something's bothering me. I feel like there's a bigger picture here and we're just not seeing it. We need to find the source.' Jack paused for a moment, then said. 'Is Ianto still in the archives?'

'Yeah, he sent me a message up a while ago saying he may have found something. I thought he was going to bring it up, but you what he's like when he's down there. I'll go and find out what it was.' said Molly.

Molly got up and headed down the stairs and along the corridor to the archives. As she looked into the archives she could see Ianto pacing up and down, like he had lost something. She stepped in and asked, 'Is everything alright.' When he turned and looked at her Molly could tell that something was not right, he looked panicked.

'No, it's not,' he said. 'I have to get out of here.'

'Why?' said Molly, trying to keep her voice calm.

'Because I have to get away.'

At these words Mollys stomach sank, and she hoped her imagination was just being overactive. 'What for?'

Ianto looked at her and then stepped closer, which made Molly take a step back. 'You're one of them aren't you, stopping me from leaving.'

'No, I'm not stopping you from doing anything, if you want to leave go ahead.' Molly moved so that the path to the door she had just come through was clear.

'You think I'm going to fall for that, it's a trap.'

Molly was now having a hard time trying to keep calm. 'I think we need to go and talk to Jack,' and she started to walk towards the door.

'No, he's in on it too, you're all in it together. I need to get out of here.' Molly heard something behind her and she turned to say something else only to find that Ianto was stood right behind her with his gun pointing at her. 'I need to get out,' he said again. 'And you're going to help me.'


	22. Chapter 22

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I now have over 100 reviews. :) I will warn you that this chapter is not a happy chapter. Ianto is fairly mean in some of what he says. Just remember that hes acting out of character for a reason and that it won't last forever. I promise at least 2 big fluffy chapters after all this. Also i discovered three new Torchwood novels have just come out. I'm currently reading The Undertaker's Gift, it's very good. :) Anyway, on with the chapter.

Chapter 22.

Molly stood staring at Ianto and the gun that he was holding. The gun that was aimed right at her. She had to admit to herself that she was scared, even more scared than the night she'd found Alex in her flat. Molly had known what Alex was capable of, but this was Ianto and he wouldn't do this. That was the scariest thing, she had no idea what he would do. She knew that he had obviously been infected with the virus that Sam Green had been exposed too, Molly had seen the scratch on his hand, and it hadn't looked that bad. Sam must have passed it on though. She tried to keep her voice calm and neutral when she spoke. 'Look, if you want to get out of here, we can do that, no problem. Just please put the gun down.'

'No, you are my insurance. The others won't try anything if you come with me.'

'How about we just tell them we are going on a food run? That way we can go out and you can do whatever you want when we get outside. If they see you pointing a gun at me, they are going to freak out.' Molly said, trying to rationalise with him, hoping she could get through.

Ianto thought about this for a moment, he was struggling with how he was feeling. The most overwhelming instinct though was to get out of the Hub. 'Fine, I will try it your way, but if I even suspect one of you is trying to stop me, I will not be responsible for my actions.'

Molly watched as Ianto stowed the gun in his pocket, but he kept his hand close to it. She knew there was no way she could alert the others until they were out of the Hub. She just hoped they could get out without any questions being asked. Molly started to walk out of the archives, Ianto close by. They walked along the corridor and up the stairs. They were just getting close to the cog door, when Jack called towards them from his office staircase. 'Hey, where are you two off to?'

'Food run, figured everyone would be hungry by now.' said Molly, her voice as calm as she could get it.

Jack came down the rest of the stairs and looked at them, there was something not right. 'I need to know the information you found out first.'

'We will only be five minutes.' said Molly her eyes pleading with him to just shut up and let them go.

'Ok, there's something going on here and I want to know what it is.' said Jack. As he spoke Molly could see Jamie emerging from out of the medical bay to see what was going on and Gwen standing up too.

Before any of the others knew what was happening Ianto had pulled his gun back out of his pocket. 'I knew this wouldn't work, you tricked me. You are all in on it.' He pointed the gun back at Molly.

Jack, Gwen and Jamie were completely taken aback by what was happening in front of them. It took a few seconds before Jack could speak. 'Ianto, what the hell are you doing?'

'I'm getting out of here, you can't keep me here like this.'

'No one is keeping you anywhere.' said Jack, realising that Ianto had obviously been infected by the virus. He needed to keep the situation calm. 'You don't need the gun.'

'Well, I'm not putting it down. If I keep it directed at Molly no one will try anything.'

'Ianto, please. No one is going to do anything.' Jack said, his voice pleading. He could not get his head around what he was seeing. Molly was Iantos best friend and he was pointing a gun at her, and he seemed to think Jack was trying to keep him prisoner. 'Come on, we can talk about this, this isn't you.'

'I don't want to talk, I want to leave.'

'Fine, then I'll come with you. Let Molly stay here.'

Ianto laughed. 'I don't think so. Threatening you would be kind of pointless.'

Jamie moved a little closer, but not so much that he might agitate Ianto further. He knew there was nothing he could do from where he was and it was frustrating him. 'Ianto, we can help you. This isn't you talking, it's the virus making you feel paranoid.'

'You talk about paranoia, all of you in here are guilty of being paranoid about something. Take Molly, do you realise how paranoid she is that your going to turn out to be just like Alex.' There was a stunned silence in the Hub as he said this. This was so unlike Ianto it was scary. He knew so much about everyone and now he was turning it against them.

Jamie looked at Molly, disbelieving what he was hearing, but she wouldn't look at him.

'Ianto,' said Jack. 'You have to let me help you.'

Ianto turned to him, ignoring what he said. 'I'm leaving now and this is what's going to happen. Molly and I are going to walk out of here. No one is to follow. Give me the keys to the SUV and a PDA.'

Jack passed him the keys, he thought about trying to stop Ianto leaving, but with Molly stood between them it was too big a risk. Jack knew that others that had been infected were volatile and that by keeping the situation as calm as possible, no one would get hurt. Jack felt helpless. Gwen got a PDA and held it out to him. Ianto pocketed the keys to the SUV and then took the PDA and gave it to Molly.

'Configure this so it shows the life signs in here.'

Molly did so, and on the screen appeared five life signs. 'Once we leave if this shows less than three life signs then Molly won't make it back. Once I get to the car though, and if all three life signs are still showing on the screen, Molly is free to come back.'

Jack took an involuntary step forward, but this just made Ianto raise his gun higher.

'It's ok Jack,' said Molly. 'Let us go.' She looked at him straight in the eye. Jack looked back at her, and sensed that she knew what she was doing. As much as it pained him, he was going to have to let them go.

Molly opened the cog door and walked through it, Ianto close behind her. When the door shut Jamie rushed forward, but Jack stopped him.

'How could you just let them go like that?' said Jamie angrily.

'What should I have done? Tried to tackle Ianto to make him stay and took the risk that he started shooting.' Jack took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. 'Gwen, can you bring up the footage of the archives since we got back, I need to see what happened down there.'

'So we do nothing.' said Jamie pointing to the door.

'Not for the moment. I think Molly can take care of herself, and if she does what Ianto says, she'll be back soon.'

Jamie opened his mouth to say something else, but shut it again because there was nothing he could say. He just stared at the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn't take Ianto and Molly long to reach the SUV parked in the car park. Molly made sure that Ianto could see the PDA and that no one had moved from the Hub. Now he was outside, he actually seemed a lot calmer, the gun had gone back in his pocket. When they reached the car, Molly said, 'Do you know where you're going?'.

Ianto looked at her a slightly confused look on his face. He thought hard, he wasn't entirely sure where he was going, just that he needed to go. He had so many conflicting thoughts going on in his head right now, he wasn't honestly sure he knew what he was doing.

'Like I'm going to say anything, you'd follow me.'

'No I wouldn't, no car.' said Molly.

'That won't stop you for long, so I need you to disconnect the tracker in the SUV.'

Molly sighed, she's really hoped he wouldn't think of this, then an idea struck her. 'Ok, hold this and give me the keys.' Ianto looked at her slightly suspiciously, but went along with the swap. As she went to take the keys Molly moved her hand slightly so they dropped to the floor. 'Oh God, sorry.' she cried, hoping this wouldn't agitate him. Ianto bent down to pick the keys up and as he looked away Molly quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and tucked it into the sleeve of her jumper.

'Maybe I should keep hold of these.' he said. He then opened up the SUV and gestured that Molly should do what she was supposed to. Molly climbed in and disconnected the tracking system, but when she was sure he couldn't see exactly what she was doing, she slipped her phone under the passenger seat. She then got out. 'There, no one can follow this car now.'

Ianto then got into the car, Molly wanted to say something, but there was nothing she could say, nothing was going to stop him leaving. The door slammed shut and the SUV sped out of the car park.

Molly stood for a minute looking off into the distance at the path the SUV had just taken. She then took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that were starting to fall. She had to get back into the Hub before the others went crazy with worry about what was going on. Molly ran out of the car park and back the short distance to the Hub as fast as she could.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack was pacing up and down in the Hub, all this waiting was not doing him any good. Jack had watched the footage of the archives, hardly believing what he was seeing when Ianto pulled his gun on Molly. Something was going to pay big time for bringing this virus here. He had then tried to bring up the SUV's tracking system, but it had come up disconnected. Jack realised that he should have expected that, Ianto was clever, of course he would disconnect anything that could track him. Just as Jack was considering his next move, the alarm on the door sounded and he turned just in time to see it opening and Molly running back in. He was a little disappointed to see that she was alone, because a small part of him had hoped she'd talk Ianto round.

As soon as Jamie saw her, he rushed over and pulled her into a fierce hug. 'Are you ok?'

'I'm fine,' Molly managed to say, then pulled away. She hurried over to her computer and started typing away furiously.

Jack went over to her. 'He's gone, hasn't he.'

Molly looked up at him sympathetically, Jacks eyes looked so sad. 'Yeah, I tried, but nothing was going to stop him leaving. We can track him though.'

'How?' said Jack. 'The tracking system in the SUV has been disconnected.'

'I know, I was the one that disconnected it, but while I was doing so I lost my phone.' Molly said smiling.

It took Jack a minute to realise what this meant, 'So we track your phone. Molly you're a genius.'

'It happens occasionally.'

'What happens when we've tracked him down though?' asked Gwen.

'Well, I was thinking about something Jack said earlier.' said Molly. 'You said that people were disappearing after they were infected, Ianto could lead us to wherever it is they've gone.'

'Which could also lead us to the source' said Gwen, also remembering what Jack had said earlier. 'Makes sense, only trouble is then we need to stop them.'

'Jamie,' said Jack, 'Go down to the cells and see if Sam has woken up yet, if so see if he's talking. Gwen go with him. Molly keep trying to track Ianto as best you can, I have to go and make a phone call.' Jack went up into his office and sat down behind his desk. He made no move for a while, he sat with his head in his hands. This situation would have been bad regardless of which team member had been infected, but with Ianto it felt much worse. Jack couldn't separate his personal feelings from this, he hoped they could find a solution to this quickly and that he would be reunited with Ianto soon.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N. Thank you for the reviews of the last chapter. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. :)

Chapter 23.

Molly sat at her computer watching the signal coming from her phone flashing on the screen as a red dot moving along the road. So far she had no idea where Ianto could be heading. She glanced up at Jacks office, wondering how he was coping. She let out a sigh and then noticed that Jamie was coming over to her.

'Hey, I thought you were going down to the cells?' she asked him.

'I'm meeting Gwen down there, but I wanted to talk to you first.'

Molly looked down at her desk, she knew what was coming, and really didn't want to talk about it. She looked back up at him, 'What about?'.

'About what Ianto said.'

'I really don't think now is the time.'

Jamie moved so that he was bent down in front of her. 'I just want to know if there's any truth to what he said.'

Molly tried to turn away, but Jamie reached up and put his hands gently on either side of her face so she had no choice but to look at him. 'Look, I'm not going to get mad whatever you say. I realise there's a lot I don't know about what happened between you and Alex, but I do want you to be able to trust me and to be able to tell me.'

'What he said, it's not exactly true, but it's not completely false either.' Molly looked at Jamie and could see that this wasn't easy for him to hear. 'I do trust you, I never would have stayed with you last night if I didn't. That was the first time I've took that step with anyone since Alex. I told you it wouldn't be easy, and that's because of me and my insecurities and I am trying, but you have to realise that things with Alex were great to start with and then went very wrong. Part of me can't help, but think that that might happen again.' Molly looked down at the floor blinking away yet more tears that were threatening to fall, she had hoped she would never have to tell Jamie all this. She really did like him and knew he was nothing like Alex, but part of her was wary. 'I'm sorry.'

'You have nothing to be sorry for. Alex is the one who did this, and I understand that this isn't easy for you, but I am not going to become like him.'

'I know. If you really want me to talk about it then I will. I also understand if you want to call things off.'

'I doubt I will want to do that.' said Jamie. 'I better go and do this interview, we'll sit down properly when all this is over.' Jamie stood up, but before he went he leant down and kissed Molly softly.

Molly watched Jamie disappear down the corridor that led down to the cells. She then looked at Jack sat in his office, his head still in his hands. The last time she had seen him looking this lost was when they first met. She got up and headed up to his office. 'Can I get you anything?' she asked. Molly knew it was pointless to ask if he was ok, because he looked anything but.

Jack looked up at her and shook his head. 'No, there's only one thing I want at the moment.'

'I'm working on that.' she said with a small smile. 'I'm sorry I couldn't do more to stop him leaving. I did try down in the archives.'

'You have nothing to be sorry about. There was nothing any of us could have done. Are you holding up ok?'

'I'm ok I suppose, considering the one person I trust most threatened me with a gun, and said something that has now raised an awkward topic of conversation with Jamie.'

'You know he wouldn't usually break your trust like that.'

'I know, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though.'

'I know how that feels. The way he spoke down there, and the way he looked at me, it was all so cold. I just wanted to help him.'

'We will, then you two can make up in whatever way you see fit.'

They were interrupted by the sound of beeping coming from one of the workstations. 'That's my tracking programme.' Molly said and hurried out of the office and over to her computer. Jack came out of his office and stood on the balcony.

'What is it?'

'The signals stopped moving.'

'So Iantos got to wherever it is he's going?' said Jack as he started to come down the stairs and over to the computer.

'Possibly, but there's also the worse case scenario, which is he's found the phone and thrown it out of the car.'

'Let's try to think positive. Where is the signal coming from?'

'It's a building site, about half a mile away from the docks.'

Jack moved over to Gwen's desk and picked up Sam's file. 'Sam and Dan worked as builders doing a renovation, near the docks. Ok, when Gwen and Jamie get back up here we move. At least now we have somewhere to start searching.'

'For what though? We have no idea what we are going into and how to stop those infected from going crazy on us.'

'Hopefully Gwen and Jamie will have some answers for us.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jamie caught up with Gwen and they walked down to the cell that Sam Green was in.

'Molly ok?' asked Gwen. Jamie had said he had forgotten something, but she knew better.

'That transparent huh,' he replied. 'She's ok although her feelings have been hurt more than she's going to admit to me.'

'It's going to take time for everyone to deal with the events of today. Seeing Ianto acting like that was horrible. The sooner we can deal with this the better.'

When they reached the cell, they approached cautiously. They could see Sam sitting on the small bench in there looking confused. When he saw them he stood up and moved towards the front of the cell. 'Where am I?' he asked.

Gwen and Jamie looked at each other. The question was spoken calmly, they had been expecting him to still be angry when he woke up.

'You are inside Torchwood, my name is Gwen and this is Jamie. We need to ask you a few questions.' There was no harm in telling him this because they would be retconning him later.

'Why am I in a cell?'

'For your own safety.'

'I was pretty messed up earlier.'

'What do you remember?' asked Jamie.

'I remember smashing the windows in my house, and feeling like someone was trying to keep me there. I also had this feeling that I needed to be somewhere. I have no clue where though, it was just like something was pulling me. I have no idea how I'm going to explain this,' he said regretfully.

'How are you feeling you now.'

'I feel fine, apart from my head feeling a little fuzzy. It's like the other stuff was a bad dream.'

Gwen and Jamie stepped away from the cell so that Sam couldn't hear them. 'What do you think?' Gwen asked.

'He seems fine, so he's either back to normal, or a very good actor.'

'This is weird. How do we know for sure?'

'I need to run another blood sample, although I'm not sure I actually want to go in there in case he is faking.' said Jamie.

'I'll cover him and you take the sample.' Gwen went back over to the cell. 'We need to take a blood sample from you because you were infected by something, and we need to see what is happening. If you try anything while Jamie does that I will shoot you.'

Sam nodded that he understood. Gwen and Jamie entered the cell, Gwen had her gun trained on Sam the whole time Jamie was taking the sample. They left after and headed back towards the main part of the Hub where they found Jack and Molly were looking at her computer. Jamie headed straight down to the medical bay to run the sample.

'Did you get anything out of Sam?' asked Jack, as Gwen reached the computer.

'Yeah, he remembers everything he did, but he can't tell us why he did it. He also remembered the feeling of having to be somewhere. It's the strangest thing though, he seems perfectly fine now. Jamie's running another blood sample. How are you getting on?'

'The signal stopped moving a little while ago at a building site,' said Molly.

Jack walked over to the medical bay, and called down to Jamie. 'How long will it take to run that sample?'

'Not long, I've managed to modify the scanner to look for the exact virus that was in the first sample.' After a few minutes the scanner beeped. Jamie came up out of the medical bay and put the results of both tests on Gwen's computer so they could all see. 'This is the first sample I took when he came in, and the one I took just now.'

'It's gone,' said Gwen incredulously. 'but how though?'

'I can't say for sure, but my best guess without having the time to run a lot of tests, is that the sedative I gave him calmed him down enough that his body was able to fight the virus off. The sedative may have even helped the process.'

'Then why haven't the others who were affected fought the virus off yet and returned?' said Molly.

'They could have found the source,' said Jack. 'If they are where this virus is most potent then they are just going to get more and more agitated, and the virus is going to cling to them harder. If this is the case we are going to have to be quick about destroying it before it infects us too.'

'That's a happy thought.' said Molly. 'We still have no idea what the source is.'

'We don't, but I have a feeling it will be obvious when we get there.'

'Get there?' said Gwen.

'To the building site. We are going to go and find Ianto. This will hopefully lead us to the source of the virus and the other people. Get your stuff together we are leaving in ten minutes.' said Jack.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N. I'm sorry it's taken a while for me to post this chapter, but life has been kind of hectic and i haven't had a lot of free time. I wrote this a bit at a time over the last week instead of in one go like i normally do, so it was a little disjointed at one point, but i think i've fixed that now. It's just hard sometimes when you have more than one thing going on at once. I just want to let you know that i'm going to be working for the next seven days straight and then i'm going away over Halloween weekend. I will hopefully get at least one more chapter up before i go away. The plot bunnies have been biting so there is more to come, but i won't get back to more regular posts until after i've been away. I hope you will stick with me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and added my story to their alerts, it really does make my day to know people are enjoying this. I can't believe i've reached 24 chapters, that's twice as many as my first story! Thank you, and enjoy.

Chapter 24. 

Jack was getting impatient, ten minutes had turned into twenty and he wasn't happy. 'What's the hold up? I want to get moving.'

'Well, in case you haven't noticed, my car is not as well equipped as the SUV' said Gwen. 'It's taking time to get together all the stuff we need, or may even potentially need. Pacing isn't exactly helping.'

Jack stopped pacing for a moment and looked at her. She was right of course, but he was getting frustrated. All he wanted at that moment were two things, the first, Ianto back with him in the Hub, and second, something he could shoot for causing all this.

After another five minutes the team were packed up with technical and medical equipment and ready to go. They managed to get everything into Gwen's car, even if it was a bit of a squeeze. Molly and Jamie sat in the back, while Gwen and Jack were in the front. Gwen reluctantly having to let Jack drive. She knew there was no point arguing with him, considering the mood he was in, but she had told him that any speeding tickets he would be paying for, the same with any damage. Jack drove at his usual high speeds with Molly, Jamie and Gwen all holding on to their equipment for dear life and all secretly praying that they get to the building site in one piece.

When they reached the building site they all got out of the car and stood surveying the scene. The building was in the middle of being renovated and had scaffolding all around it. They could also see the SUV parked by the side of the building. Molly got out her PDA and pointed it towards the building scanning for life signs.

'On the fifth floor there are three distinct life signs in one room, and then something else in another. Whatever it is, is giving off large amounts of Rift energy.'

'That's got to be the source.' said Jack.

'So what's the plan?' asked Jamie, 'We have no idea what we are about to walk into, and what kind of weapons they might have in there.'

'Well we know Ianto left the Hub with his gun, and then there's all sorts of things the others could arm themselves with on this site.' said Gwen.

'We take it carefully.' said Jack. 'We need to restrain the people in there, not hurt them.'

'Easier said than done if they start attacking us.' said Jamie.

'Maybe, but guns are only to be fired in warning. I do not want to risk any of them getting shot.' said Jack. Although he didn't actually say it, they all knew he meant he didn't want Ianto getting shot.

'Jamie has the sedative, so if we need to we can sedate them.'

'What about the source?' asked Molly.

'Let me worry about that' said Jack. 'I'll deal with it, while the three of you take care of Ianto and the other two people in there. Just be careful that they don't infect you.'

The four of them walked towards the building. They entered quietly, Gwen, Jamie and Molly walked up the stairs towards the fifth floor, while Jack went around the other side of the building and climbed up from the outside.

As the three team members got to the fifth floor and looked into the room, they could see Ianto and the other two people. Ianto still had hold of his gun, while the others were holding bits of scaffolding in their hands. They walked in cautiously, hands near weapons. Jamie had the sedatives in a pouch near to his weapon for when he needed them.

'I knew you would follow me somehow.' Ianto said. 'Predictable really.'

'If we're that predictable, then you know why we're here.' said Gwen.

'Yeah, you want to make us leave. Take us back and put us in the cells.' said Ianto.

'Only until the effects of the virus wear off.'

'Well here's the thing. None of us are leaving here. It's safe here.'

'We need to leave here, because contrary to what you think you believe, here is not safe. Here is the reason you are acting so strange.' said Gwen and she took a step forward. As she did the man and the woman opposite them moved too. The man ran at Gwen, who managed to duck the pole that he was holding as he swung it at her. She moved back until she was dangerous close to the edge of the building. Gwen grabbed hold of the pole and tried to take it from the man.

The woman went for Molly, she took a swing at her with her pole and although Molly ducked, the pole caught her on the arm and knocked her off balance and she fell down. As she looked up she saw the pole swing down at her again, this time though she rolled so that she was out of the way. Molly quickly got up and as the other woman swung at her for a third time, Molly grabbed the end of the pole. This startled the woman and she tried to pull it out of Molly's grip, but Molly held on. She shoved the pole upwards knocking the other woman over as the pole made contact with her shoulder. Molly looked as the woman fell to the floor and lay there unconscious. Molly stood up straight and looked around, she could see Jamie facing Ianto, while Ianto had his gun pointed at him. Then she heard a scream and as she turned to look, she saw to her horror that the man Gwen had been fighting with, had pushed her to the edge of the building and Gwen lost her footing and fell over the edge.

Molly ran over towards the man, the pole she had taken from the other woman still in her hand. She swung it at the mans legs causing him to fall. As he went to try and get up again, Molly hit him just hard enough to knock him out. She went and peered over the edge. 'Gwen' she shouted, fear evident in her voice.

'Molly, help me.'

Molly looked and could see that Gwen was just managing to hold on to the scaffolding. Molly lay down flat on the floor and reached down to her. 'Gwen, can you pull yourself up?'

'No, I can't quite reach.' said Gwen, trying as hard as she could not to panic.

'Ok, you need to grab my hand and I'll try and pull you up.'

'You'll never manage it.'

'We have to try.' Molly extended her arm down as far as she could. Gwens hands were slipping on the scaffolding, she reached up and grabbed Mollys hand.

Jamie was stood on the other side of the room watching all of this unfold, and powerless to help. Every time he made a move, however slightly Ianto moved to, gun aimed straight at him. Jamie knew he was going to have to do something soon, he was going to have to try and take Ianto down and knock him out with one of the sedatives he had on him.

'Can you not see what's going on here.' Jamie said, 'Two of your friends could potentially die here if you don't let me go and help them.'

'Friends wouldn't try and make me do something I don't want to.'

'This is not you talking, you're infected with something that's making you feel like everyone is out to get you, but we're not. We are trying to help.' Jamie was getting frustrated now, he was going to have to do something and soon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack had climbed up to the fifth floor from the other side of the building. As he entered the second room he could hear the commotion that was going on in the other room and just hoped that everything was ok, that Ianto was ok. He had to push these thoughts out of his mind though, because he knew that if he didn't destroy the source of the virus, no one would be going anywhere. As Jack walked into the room, he at first thought that there was another person in there as what stood in front of him was human in shape, except as Jack got closer he realised it's skin had a blue tinge to it. The alien, sensing his presence turned to face him.

'This ends here', said Jack.

'Really, and what if i don't want to end this.' said the alien looking at him.

'I will stop you, people are getting hurt. This virus of yours is turning people violent.'

'They only turn violent because they feel threatened. If they stay here with me they are perfectly safe.'

'Except for the fact your feeding off their paranoia. That'll kill them eventually.'

'I can't help it if the human race are such a paranoid species. All these feelings are already in them. That's why I love Earth so much, so may people, so many different fears and paranoia's.'

'Like I said, it's going to stop.' Jack raised his gun, but with one quick movement the alien was on him, and knocked it out of his hand. It grabbed hold of Jack by the throat and pinned him against the wall.

'How about we see what effect I can have on you.' it said as it raised one of its hands and extended a sharp nail and went to scratch it against Jacks skin.

'No thanks, I think I can live without finding out' said Jack. He head butted the alien, making it loosen its grip on him. He dived down and reached for his gun, raising it just as the alien made another leap for him. He fired four shots in quick succession and the alien fell to the ground dead. Jack got up quickly moving out of the way of the blood that was pooling around the body. Jack moved towards the other room to help the others.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At the sound of the first shot Jamie took his chance. The sound had taken Iantos attention off him for a split second, and that was all it took. Jamie rushed forward and grabbed hold of the gun Ianto was holding. As they both battled for control of the situation they made contact with the wall. Jamie banged Iantos arm into the wall causing him to release his hold on the gun, sending it clattering to the floor. Ianto retaliated by punching Jamie hard in the jaw. As Jamie reeled backwards he took one of the sedatives he had out of the pouch on his belt, knowing this was the safest way to stop Ianto. Jamie slid it into his hand and as Ianto went to punch him again, he ducked and kicked a leg out causing Ianto to trip. As he landed Jamie knelt over the top of him and injected the sedative into his arm. 'Sorry' he said as he did. Jamie heard a noise behind him and saw Jack rush back into the room.

'I had to sedate him Jack, it was the only way, but he'll be fine. Go and help the girls.'

Jack took one last look at Ianto now lying unconscious on the ground, and ran over to where Molly was just managing to hold on to Gwen.

'Need a hand.' he said as he reached down and grabbed Gwens other hand.

Between the two of them, they soon pulled Gwen back up into the building. Gwen and Molly both lay on the floor for a moment getting their breath back before Gwen said, 'You took your time.

'There was an alien to deal with.' said Jack. He held a hand out for Gwen and pulled her up, before doing the same for Molly. 'I knew you'd be fine.'

'Did you?' asked Molly.

'Yeah, it's dead now, but we are going to have to burn the evidence because it's the only way to make sure the virus it carries is completely gone.

'The owners are the building are going to love that.' said Gwen.

Jack, Gwen and Molly walked back over to where Jamie was stood next to Ianto. Jack bent down and ran his fingers down the side of Iantos face. 'Right, we need to get Ianto and the others back to the Hub. Jamie I will need you to test them to make sure that the virus is gone and then those two,' Jack said pointing at the figures of the man and the woman still lying unconscious, 'and Sam can be retconned and taken home.'

It took a while, but eventually everyone got down to the ground floor and were either loaded in to the SUV or Gwens car. They made their way carefully back to the Hub. When they got there Gwen, Jamie and Molly dealt with the two still nameless people, while Jack carried Ianto down to his quarters under his office. Jack laid Ianto down on the bed and covered him over with a blanket. He then leant down and kissed him gently on the forehead. Jack got up and started back up into his office, taking one last glance at the Welshman as he did so. He was happy that they had managed to get Ianto back in one piece. Jack knew that there would be repercussions from what happened, but the team was strong and they would get through it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N. This is just to say that i had Jamie fight with Ianto because i feel they have less history between them. I couldn't bring myself to write Jack and Ianto fighting. There will be a little angst in the next chapter, but also some fluff. :)


	25. Chapter 25

A/N, Thank you to everyone for their reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad i managed to get this update in before i go away for the weekend, as i won't be able to update again until sometime next week. Enjoy the chapter, i tried not to go to hard on Ianto. I think Jamie is probably the harshest to him, but i couldn't make Molly stay too upset with him. After this one there will be fluffy chapters just as i promised. :)

Chapter 25.

The next morning when Ianto woke up it took him a moment to realise where he was. He had a headache, and then the memory of the previous day started to come back to him. He groaned slightly and buried his head into the pillow, trying to will these memories away. Ianto then felt warm fingers running through his hair and he turned and opened his eyes to see Jack sat on the other side of the bed.

'Morning. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up.' said Jack. 'How do feel?'

'I have a headache and I feel like I have some bruises, but that's not the worst part.'

'Do you remember what happened yesterday?'

'Yeah, I do.' said Ianto, the guilt building up inside him. 'So how much do they hate me.'

'No one hates you Yan. They all understand that it wasn't really you, it was the virus talking.'

'Yeah, but I still said and did some awful stuff, especially to Molly. She'll never trust me again.' Ianto said sitting up.

'I'm sure she wiil. You need to talk to her, but first you need to get Jamie to check you over. We need to make sure that your completely recovered.'

'I'm sure he's going to be pleased about doing that. The last thing I remember is punching him quite hard in the face,'

'Yeah you did, he has a large bruise on his jaw. Come on, the sooner you get up, the sooner you can deal with everything.'

Ianto made no effort to move right away. He had no idea what he was going to say to everyone. Jack got up and went round to the other side of the bed, taking Ianto's hand in his he pulled him up. 'Look, I know it's going to be difficult for you to go up there and see everyone, but it has to be done. I'm going to be here if you need me, and I promise tonight we will do something special.'

'Like what?' asked Ianto.

'Let me worry about that.' Jack lent forward closing the space that was between them and kissed Ianto gently, trying to reassure him.

'Ok, I'll be up soon. I need to have a shower first. By myself.' he added after seeing the look on Jack's face. 'If you get in with me, then neither of us will make an appearance anytime soon.'

'You have a point' said Jack grinning.

Jack kissed Ianto again and then climbed up the ladder that led to his office. Ianto showered and got dressed, thankfully having a spare suit in Jack's room. He took a deep breath, and then climbed the ladder, appearing in Jack's office. He went down to the kitchen and made five cups of coffee. As he walked through the Hub, he noticed that Jack was talking to Gwen, and that Jamie was in the medical bay, but Molly was nowhere in sight. Ianto went over to Gwen and Jack first, handing them their coffee. Jack took his and then went back up to his office, smiling reassuringly at Ianto as he went past.

'Thanks, Ianto.' said Gwen. 'Are you ok?'

'Not really, I feel terrible for what happened yesterday. I am sorry. How are you?'

'The muscles in my arms are still aching slightly, but nothing serious.'

'Have you seen Molly?'

'Not since she came in. Do you want me to try and locate her, she won't be far.'

'If you don't mind. I have to see Jamie first, but then I need to speak to Molly.'

Gwen nodded, and then turned back to her computer. Ianto walked towards the medical bay. As he walked down the stairs, Jamie turned to look at him. Ianto winced slightly at the purple bruise across his jaw.

'Hey, Jack said I needed to come down and get checked out.' Ianto said, 'I also need to apologise. I'm sorry for what I did yesterday.'

'I appreciate you saying that, but I'm not really the one you need to apologise too. I admit, I wasn't exactly happy about getting punched, but I'd rather you hit me than anyone else.' Ianto knew exactly what Jamie meant by this. 'I'm going to have to take a blood sample.' Jamie continued. Ianto rolled up his sleeve and let Jamie take the sample that he needed. 'It shouldn't take to long to run.'

'How is Molly?' Ianto dared to ask.

Jamie fixed him with a stare, 'I think she's far more hurt than she's letting anyone see. You know what she's like, she closes herself off. I barely got two words out of her last night after we'd finished here. I'd tried to get her to talk to me, but she just said she wanted to be alone, then this morning she said hi when she came in, and I haven't seen her since. I think she's avoiding me, as much as she's probably avoiding you.'

'This is because of what I said about Alex. I never meant to say that, it's not even like that.' Ianto said, putting his head in his hands.

'Whether you meant for it to be said or not, you said it. I hoped that one day she would tell me what happened with Alex, because I can tell it's something that haunts her still. You've forced the issue out into the open and while Molly said she would talk to me, I think she's now scared of how I'm going to react. Normally she would go to you for advice, but you're the one who caused this.' Jamie stopped and looked at Ianto. Jamie was normally easy going, and like the others he knew what had happened wasn't Ianto's fault, but he needed to tell him how he felt. 'I'm sorry that this probably sounds harsh, but it's the truth.'

There was silence in the room for a minute as they both took in what was said. It was broken by one of the machines beeping. Jamie went over and looked at the read out. 'The sample came back clear, no trace of the virus.'

'That's one thing.' said Ianto. He got up and started up the stairs to go back into the main Hub. Gwen called him over. 'I found Molly, she's in the car park, fixing the SUV equipment. I spoke to her and told her that you were on your way.'

'Thanks Gwen.'

Ianto made Molly a fresh cup of coffee, as the other one had gone cold while he was with Jamie, and then headed out of the Hub and to the car park. He had no idea what he was going to say to Molly. Jamie had been right, he was always the one Molly went too when she needed to talk to someone. She was his best friend and he had been the one to hurt her. When he reached the car park he could see that Molly was sat in the drivers side of the SUV. He went around to the passenger side door, thinking that keeping some distance between them might be a good idea. 'Hey, I bought you a drink.'

Molly looked up at him. 'Thank you.' she said and smiled. The smile didn't quite reach her eyes though, Ianto could see the hurt and the wariness in them.

'I wanted to talk to you, if that's ok.'

'Sure, just give me a sec.' Molly said as she leant down and retrieved something from under the seat. She then got out of the SUV and walked around to the other side. She took the cup from Ianto and then moved over to the low wall at the edge of the car park and sat down. She looked over at Ianto who was still stood up and looking nervous. 'You can sit down, in fact I'd prefer it if you would, you're making me nervous standing there.'

Ianto walked over and joined Molly on the wall, keeping a small distance between them, making her nervous had not been what he was intending. He had noticed when Molly had leant down in the SUV that she had come back up with a phone in her hand and it struck him what that meant. 'You put your phone in the car when you took the tracker out? That's how you followed me.'

'Yeah, had to do something.'

'Clever.' said Ianto. There was then silence between them, an awkward silence. Ianto sighed quietly, it had never been like this between them before and he wasn't sure what he was going to say. ''Molly, I'm sorry, although I know that's not good enough. I said and did stuff yesterday I'm not proud of.' He trailed off.

'It wasn't really your fault and I'm fine.' said Molly. Ianto could tell that she wasn't though, he knew her too well and could tell when she was covering up how she really felt.

'This is me you're talking too, and I can tell that you're not.'

Molly sighed. 'What do you want me to say?'

'The truth. I know you're probably angry and upset with me, but unless you tell me, we'll never get past it.'

Molly stared straight ahead for a minute, then sighed. 'You're right I am upset. It's not so much what you did, although I could have lived without you pointing a gun at me, as what you said. The rational part of me knows it wasn't your fault, but even so you still managed to pick the one subject that you knew would hurt me. Bringing Alex up like that in front of everyone…' Molly trailed off. 'You have no idea how that felt, seeing the look on Jamie's face. I couldn't bring myself to look at him properly, and now we have to have a conversation I wasn't ready to have yet.'

'Again, I'm sorry. I know I'm the last person you want to listen to at the moment, but I don't think Jamie's going to react badly to what you have to tell him. He was upset at me when I went to see him, mainly because of how I upset you. He really cares and wants to know everything. He wants to help you deal with it. He said that you'd hardly spoken since yesterday, don't push him away just because of something I did.'

'I know, but I can't help but fall back into bad habits. My immediate reaction is to shut myself off.'

'You've never been afraid to talk to me, give Jamie the same chance.' said Ianto.

'You've always been there for me, we've been through a lot together. You're right though, I need to let go of my hang ups and trust Jamie completely. If he breaks my heart though, I'm coming after you.' said Molly smiling.

'If he does that I'm going after him.' said Ianto. 'I don't think he will though.'

There was a pause, and then Molly said, 'How do you do it?'

'Do what?' Ianto asked.

'Know exactly how to get me to open up. Before you came down here I was upset, and wondering how I as ever going to talk to you and now I'm doing exactly that.'

'I have to admit I kind of thought you'd tell me to get lost.'

'Like I said, I was hurt at what you said, I still am a bit, but I don't want things to be awkward between us. Although, don't expect to see me in the archives any time soon.'

'Fine. We should go back in, the others will be wondering what's going on, and I don't really want to give them any cause for worry.'

'I don't think you have to worry about that,' said Molly, and when Ianto looked at her puzzled, she pointed at the CCTV camera in the car park. 'That camera turned in this direction just after you came up here. If they were waiting for a fight then they will be sorely disappointed.' Molly said laughing.

'Come on,' Molly said getting up from her seat. 'I need to go and talk to Jamie.'

Ianto stood up as well and together the two of them walked back into the Hub.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N. Sorry there was a slightly longer break than i anticipated, but i'm back now and hope to update more regularly again. Thank you to **Aswen, SakuraKissy, rosieposy and ForeverBossy26 **for your reviews of the last chapter they are much appreciated. :) This chapter might seem like a bit of a filler chapter, but there are reasons for this. The first is that i had to get back into the swing of writing and i think this has helped me pick up the thread of my story again. I also needed to bridge where i was with the story, with where i want to go. Hopefully it's still a good read though. Also i have planned out the next few chapters which should help me to update quicker and keep the story on track. I also want to say thank you to rosieposy for the inspiration she has given me. :) I will stop talking now, so enjoy.

Chapter 26. 

Ianto and Molly walked back into the Hub a few minutes later. 'I suppose I better go and see Jamie.' Molly said.

Ianto smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly, 'It will be fine, he wants you to talk to him.'

Molly took a deep breath and then walked towards the medical bay, disappearing down the stairs. Ianto watched as she walked away, feeling slightly better than he had done, but there was still some guilt within him. He headed off towards the stairs that led to Jack's office. He climbed up them slowly and walked into the office where Jack was sat behind his desk with a pile of paperwork in front of him.

Jack looked up at Ianto as he sat down on the chair in front of Jack's desk. 'How'd it go with Molly?' Jack asked.

'Better than I thought it would, she's talking to me, but I can see the hurt in her eyes. I think I might have a bigger problem with Jamie. I really hope I haven't messed things up between them'

'I'm sure they can work things out, and Jamie will come round eventually. I think you need to work on forgiving yourself now.'

'Easier said than done,' said Ianto looking down at his hands.

Jack got up and walked around to the front of his desk and stood behind Ianto. Jack placed his hands on the younger mans shoulders and started to massage them lightly. 'You are far too tense.' he said. After a few minutes Jack felt Ianto start to relax, 'That's why tonight we are going to get away from this place, and forget about the Rift and all the crap that comes through it.'

Ianto turned around and looked at him. 'You know, you've probably just tempted fate and something huge will come through now.'

'Stop being so pessimistic. We are going to have a peaceful, uninterrupted evening.'

'Ok, so what are we going to do?' asked Ianto.

'That's for me to know and for you to find out later.' said Jack grinning. He then leant down to kiss Ianto, who responded by putting his arms around Jack's neck to hold him closer, and he deepened the kiss. Before they could get too carried away though, they heard someone clearing their throat behind them.

It was Gwen. 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything,' she said smiling.

'You were, but go ahead,' said Jack standing up and facing her.

'There's been a weevil spotted just on the outskirts of town.'

Jack groaned, 'Ok, you and I will go and pick it up. Ianto can you finish that paperwork for me.'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'You know if you didn't put it off so much, it wouldn't build up.'

'Thanks,' said Jack and he kissed Ianto again. 'To be continued later' he said as he followed Gwen out of the office and then out of the cog door.

Ianto smiled to himself, then starting to pull the files over to him to sort through what needed to be done.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Molly walked down the stairs and into the medical bay, where Jamie was sat at his desk working on his computer. When she reached the bottom of the stairs he turned and faced her. 'Hi,' he said.

'Hi.' Molly paused, thinking of the best way to start. 'I'm sorry.'

'What for?' asked Jamie puzzled.

'For the way I acted last night and this morning. I shouldn't have shut you out the way I did. I don't mean to, but it's a defence mechanism I have used for years and it's hard to break out of.'

'That's ok, I know yesterday was hard for you.'

'That's no excuse, I was upset with Ianto, not you. I shouldn't have taken it out on you.'

'The two of you seem to have made it up though. I'm not sure I can forgive so easily.'

'I'm still hurt by what happened, but he's my best friend and I know it wasn't his fault. I can't have an awkward working atmosphere.' Molly paused, then decide to just get it over with. 'You said that you wanted to talk and so we will, but it has to be on my terms. Come round to mine after work tonight and I will tell you everything you want to know. I'm warning you though, it's not going to be pretty.'

Jamie moved closer to Molly and took her hand in his. 'Look, I understand this won't be easy for you to talk about, and probably for me to hear, but I want to know. I want you to trust me completely.'

'I'll see you later then.' said Molly before she turned and walked away and back up the stairs away from the medical bay. Her stomach was full of knots. She still wasn't sure how Jamie was going to take everything, she was so different back when she was with Alex and she just hoped Jamie understood, because as hard as it was for her to admit it, she was falling hard for him. The feelings she had for Jamie she had not felt in a long time, and she was scared of getting so involved. Molly headed up to Jack's office, she had heard the alarm on the cog door go off while she had been in the medical bay and went to see what was going on. When she reached the office she found Ianto doing a pile of paperwork.

'Where are the others?' she asked.

'Gone to pick up a weevil' Ianto replied.

'So you got left with the paperwork.'

'Yeah, I could almost swear that Jack plans these things somehow, just so he can get out of doing this.' Ianto said smiling and waving his hand over the piles of papers.

Molly laughed. 'So you two are ok?'

'Yeah, although he's planning something for later and I'm not sure whether to be worried or not.'

'I'm sure whatever it is it will be better than the evening I have planned.'

'So you're going to have that talk with Jamie.'

'Yeah. Do you want some help with this.' Molly said changing the subject.

'Sure.'

Ianto and Molly spent the next hour working through the piles of paperwork on Jack's desk until they heard the cog door alarm announcing Jack and Gwen's return. They took the weevil they had caught down to the cells and then returned to the main Hub.

'So much for peaceful and uninterrupted.' said Ianto as he walked down the stairs from Jack's office, Molly behind him.

'Hey, I believe I said tonight would be peaceful and uninterrupted, and as it's late afternoon that weevil doesn't count.' said Jack. 'Molly is anything predicted for any time soon.'

Molly went over to her computer and bought up the Rift predictor programme,. 'No, not in the immediate future.'

'Good, then we are going to have an early finish. We could all do with some time off. If anything unexpected comes through I will call you.' said Jack.

Gwen was the first one to leave, she hurried out of the Hub shouting 'thank you' to Jack as she went. She took any opportunity she could get to spend more time with her husband and daughter. Jamie had come up out of the medical bay at Jack's words and went over to Molly.

'What time do you want me to come over?' he asked.

'Give me an hour and then come over. I have to make a stop first.'

'Ok, see you then.' Jamie said his goodbyes to Jack and then left too, not looking at Ianto as he passed him. He knew he was being petty, but at the moment he was still a little upset.

Molly collected her bag and went to leave too. 'Have a good evening guys.' she said as she went passed them.

'We will.' said Jack with a big grin. Molly then left the Hub leaving the two of them alone.

'So what's the plan?' asked Ianto.

'You'll find out. Give me five minutes to clean up and we'll go.' Jack headed up to his office leaving Ianto in the Hub, puzzled and slightly worried as to what Jack had planned. While he was waiting he collected the coffee cups that were strewn around the Hub and took them to the kitchen for cleaning. He didn't realise Jack had come in until he felt Jack's arms around his waist. Ianto stopped what he and leaned back into him.

'Ready to go?' Jack asked.

Ianto nodded. Jack removed his arms from around Ianto's waist, but took his hand. Then with Jack leading the way, they left the Hub and walked down to the car park and to the SUV. They got in and with Jack driving at a relatively normal pace for once they headed off. Jack looked across at Ianto, he hoped that this evening would be a good one. He wanted to do something special for Ianto. After everything that they had been through in the past couple of days, and because Ianto did so much for everyone, especially Jack, he wanted to give something back. It wasn't often that the team were able to have a break and Jack was determined to make the most of this one.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and for those who added this to their favourites, i do appreciate it. :) So all three couples get some fluffiness, Molly and Jamie have stuff to get out of the way first, but i still think their bits nice too. I think with each one though, i just give a start to what is going on, some of it is left up to your imagination :) Enjoy.

Chapter 27.

Molly was pacing about her flat waiting for Jamie to arrive. She was so on edge that when he knocked on the front door, she jumped. 'Get a grip' she said to herself as she went down the hallway and opened the door. 'Hi.'

'Hi'. said Jamie as he entered. Molly took his coat and hung it on the stand in the hallway. She then led him into the lounge. They both sat down on the couch and Molly poured them some wine from a bottle that she had ready on the table.

'Do you want anything to eat?' she asked.

'No I'm fine. Maybe we could get something in later.'

'Ok,' she then paused, before continuing, 'the only way I'm going to be able to do this is to just come straight out and say it, so you have to let me, no interruptions.'

'Fine.' Jamie and he took hold of Molly hands, hoping that it would give her some kind of reassurance.

Molly then proceeded to tell Jamie everything about Alex and what had happened between them, just like she had done with Ianto when Alex had reappeared. She kept hold of his hand while she told him her story, but she resisted looking at him, scared of what she might see. She didn't realise until she had finished that she had tears streaming down her face. 'So that's it, the whole story. I understand if this changes everything.'

Jamie let go of her hand and put his hands on Molly's face turning it towards him. He brushed away the tears on her face and said, 'This changes nothing, except I now understand more.'

'Thank you. I'll be back in a minute.' Molly said standing up and heading to the bathroom.

Jamie watched her go. As glad as he was that she had finally confided in him, it had been hard to listen to. Jamie was glad that Alex was currently in a UNIT cell, because if he ever had the misfortune to meet him again, he wasn't going to be held responsible for his actions. Sitting here though with Molly, listening to her open up and confide in him, Jamie had realised something. He was in love with Molly, he knew he had fallen hard for her, but now he realised just how much he loved her. He just didn't know how to tell her. Jamie looked up as Molly came back into the room and sat down next too him.

'I've been thinking.' Jamie said.

'Ok.' said Molly not sure where this was leading.

'I want you to meet Jess properly. She's staying with me tomorrow night, and then I'm spending the day with her on Saturday, as long as my day off isn't cancelled. I want you to get to know each other.'

'Really? I'd like that.' Molly smiled up at him, this was a big step, but one she was happy to take. Feeling more content and relaxed than she had in ages, Molly yawned slightly. 'Sorry, it's been a long few days and I haven't been sleeping.'

'Maybe I should go and let you sleep.'

'Your right, I need to sleep, but…' she hesitated, 'stay.'

'Sure.'

Molly leaned over and kissed Jamie gently. They both got up and went into Molly's bedroom. They both got into the bed, Jamie curled his arms protectively around Molly as she fell asleep. It wasn't long before he fell asleep too.

X

When Gwen got home she found Rhys in the kitchen. 'Hi sweetheart.' she said as she walked in.

Rhys looked at her slightly puzzled. 'Hi. Is everything alright? He asked.

'Yeah, why wouldn't it be.' It was Gwen's turn to be puzzled.

'Because you're home early and that usually only happens if the world's about to end, and you've come to check on me.'

'Very funny, the world is not about to end. It's been a stressful few days and as it's quiet, Jack let us leave early.'

'Which I assume is code for he wanted to get Ianto alone.'

Gwen laughed, 'Yeah probably. She went over to Rhys and kissed him. 'How about I go check on Mary and you cook us something special.' Gwen then went down towards Mary's room and found Mary happily lying in her cot. Gwen picked her up and started to rock her gently in her arms. She smiled as she watched her daughters eyes start to close as she fell asleep. Gwen loved the little moments like this, and was sometimes a little sad that she missed out on things with the long hours she often worked. Gwen also knew though, that she wouldn't change what she did for anything. She did wonder sometimes how she would be able to keep what she did with Torchwood a secret from Mary as she got older, but it would be a very long time before she had to figure anything out. Gwen put Mary back down in her cot when she had fallen asleep and covered her over with a blanket. Then she went back into the lounge and sat down. A short time later the lasagne that Rhys had cooked was ready and they sat and ate it at the table, talking about everything except work.

They then sat and watched television, Gwen curled up on the sofa with her head leaning against Rhys.

'I think I need an early night.' said Gwen, standing up. 'How about you?'

'I think I could be persuaded.' said Rhys as he too got up, following Gwen in the direction of the bedroom.

X

The SUV pulled up outside of an expensive looking Italian restaurant, just on the outskirts of the main city, and Jack and Ianto both got out.

'We're eating here?' asked Ianto, 'It looks expensive.'

Jack shrugged, 'So, you have to pay for the best sometimes. Anyway I think we deserve it.' Jack held out his hand and Ianto took it. They walked into the restaurant and were shown to their seats. Ianto spent a few minutes taking in his surroundings, the restaurant was very elegant and he was thinking about how lucky he was to be here. They didn't go out a lot, mainly because they never had the time, and it was nice to be somewhere other than the Hub or the flat. The waiter came over with the menu's, and for once Jack didn't flirt with him, which Ianto noticed.

'Are you feeling alright?' Ianto asked Jack, a smile on his face.

'Yeah, why?'

'Because when that waiter came over, you didn't give him a second glance.'

'So you're complaining that I didn't flirt with the waiter?' Jack said, but he was smiling too now. 'Because I can if you want.'

'No, it's just unusual.'

'Well, I don't need to flirt with him, when I have you.'

Ianto smiled quietly to himself. It wasn't often Jack was like this, usually it was when they were alone. That was when he saw a softer side to Jack, the man behind the hero persona most other people saw. The waiter came back and they ordered. While they were waiting Jack started telling Ianto one of his stories from before he came to Torchwood. Ianto loved listening to these stories, but he did sometimes wonder if Jack embellished the details.

After they had eaten and Jack had suggested moving on for dessert, they left the restaurant and got back into the SUV. It took Ianto a minute to realise that they were heading in the opposite direction to the Hub.

'Jack, where are we going? The Hub's the other way.'

'I know, we're not staying at the Hub tonight.'

'Then where, because I don't think Molly and Jamie would be pleased if we interrupted them. They had a lot to talk about.'

'We're not going to you flat either. Just wait, we're nearly there.'

Not long after he said this, Jack pulled up outside a hotel, a five star hotel. 'Like I said earlier, sometimes you have to have the best. By staying here we can pretend the Rift doesn't exist, rather than be constantly reminded of what we do like we are at the Hub.'

Ianto looked over at him, this was possibly the nicest thing that anyone had ever done for him. He leant over to Jack and kissed him. 'Thank you'.

'If that's the thanks I get when you've only seen the outside of the hotel, I can't wait to see what happens when we get inside.' said Jack with a grin.

Jack went to reception and got the room key while Ianto waited by the lift. He had discovered that Jack had put a small bag in the back of the SUV while he hadn't been looking so that they had a change of clothes for tomorrow. Jack came over and they went up to the room that Jack had booked. It was the most luxurious room, and Ianto was starting to feel spoilt, not that he minded too much. While Ianto looked around the room, Jack sat down and felt fairly pleased with himself. He had wanted to make the night special and he felt he had succeeded. Ianto looked more relaxed than he had seen him in ages, even before the incident with the alien virus. Jack knew that he hadn't been the best partner in the world before, but he was more determined than ever to make up for that now.

Ianto came back into the room, 'This room is amazing. I bet you could fit most of my flat in here.' Jack stood up and walked over to him.

'So, I did ok then?'

'This is more than ok.' said Ianto. 'I love it.'

'Really? The question is how much do you love it?' asked Jack cheekily.

'Maybe I could show you.' said Ianto as he closed the gap between him and Jack. Ianto leaned in and kissed Jack. It started off gently, but started to get more heated as Ianto made Jack walk backwards until he hit the bed. Jack fell back onto the bed, Ianto landing on top of him.

'If this is what I get for taking you out like this, I'm going to have to do it more often.' said Jack before kissing Ianto again. They then both got lost in the moment, and each other.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter, i'm glad you all enjoyed the fluffiness. Enjoy the next chapter. :)

Chapter 28.

The next morning five very relaxed, well rested people entered the Hub to start work. Jack and Ianto had made it back first. Ianto feeling a lot better about the incident with the virus, although he knew he still had some making up to do with Jamie, he was in a much better frame of mind. He had woken up in a five star hotel room, curled up against Jack and he couldn't think of a better way to start the day. Jack was feeling exactly the same. Gwen entered next saying a cheery hello at them as she walked over to her computer. She had got to spend quality time with Rhys and her daughter, and she too was feeling happy. Jamie and Molly entered not too far behind. Jamie, happy in the knowledge that Molly trusted him completely, and Molly, happy that she had told the truth and Jamie hadn't run a mile. Jack came out of his office once they were all in and said 'Boardroom, ten minutes.'

Molly went into the kitchen, where Ianto was busy preparing drinks for the meeting. 'Morning, good night last night.'

'Yeah, one of the best.'

'Do I get details?' asked Molly.

'You want all the details? Asked Ianto with a slightly mischievous smile on his face.

'Well, maybe not all of them.' Molly laughed.

'I'll fill you in later, how about you? I take it everything went ok.'

'Better than I expected. Jamie's introducing me to Jess later, which I'm a little nervous about.'

'Sure, it's a big step, shows he's serious about you. You have met Jess before.'

'Well I'm not sure that stuff with the shifter counts, but yeah, at least I won't be a complete stranger. Here, let me help you.' Molly said picking up two of the cups.

Ianto and Molly then headed up to the boardroom. Molly handed Gwen's coffee to her, keeping the other cup for herself, while Ianto handed the others out. They then took their seats.

'I do like a happy team, and everyone seems happy at the moment so lets try and keep that going ok?' said Jack looking around the table. It had been a long time since he had seen every team member looking happy at the same time. 'Molly, is the Rift still quiet?'

'As far as I can tell, nothing's predicted for a while, but obviously I can't rule out the random occurrences.'

'That's good. You have some artefacts you were trying to decipher didn't you?' Molly nodded. 'Good, keep working on them, Ianto I need you to keep going with the new items that need cataloguing, Gwen and Jamie I need to make sure you are properly briefed for your UNIT meeting next week. Hopefully there will be no problems and you will all get your Saturday's off tomorrow.'

They headed off after that to get on with their work. It was a slow day, not even a weevil sighting. Jamie came up to Molly just before he left to go and collect Jess.

'Are you still up for meeting Jess?' Jamie asked.

'Sure, when and where do you want me to meet you?'

'Meet us at the café across the road in an hour.'

Gwen came over after he left. 'I think this must rate as one of the quietest days I've ever had since I started working here.'

'Strange isn't it.' said Molly. 'I keep expecting something to happen.'

'Make the most of it, because all too soon something probably will.'

An hour later and Gwen and Molly both got ready to go. Ianto came up from the archives just as they were about to leave. 'Molly, just try and enjoy tonight, be yourself.'

Molly smiled as she left with Gwen and headed over to the café on the Plass. Ianto watched as they left, but his attention was soon turned to Jack's office when he heard him raising his voice. Ianto climbed the stairs up to the office, and entered just in time to see Jack slam the phone down. Looking very frustrated. 'Bloody UNIT..

'What have they done now?' inquired Ianto.

'They've moved the co operation meeting forward to tomorrow. I'm going to have to call Gwen and Jamie and tell them.'

'Can you hold off on calling Jamie for just a short while.'

'Why?'

'Because he's currently over the road introducing Molly to Jess. Let them at least have half an hour in peace before interrupting them and telling him his day off's been cancelled.'

'Fine, I'll call Gwen first, then Jamie later.'

They both knew that neither Gwen nor Jamie were going to be happy about this.

X

Molly entered the café and saw that Jamie and Jess were sat in a booth, about half way in. She went over to them, 'Hi,' she said as she sat down.

Jamie smiled, 'Glad you could make it. Jess, this is Molly.'

'I know that dad, we have met before.' said Jess. 'You helped us get away from those dogs at the cinema. You were really brave.'

'Thank you, I was just doing my job.'

'It was still brave, those dogs were kinda scary.' Jess paused to take a drink from her milkshake.

'So,' said Molly relaxing slightly, 'Your dad told me you were spending the day together tomorrow, what are you planning to do?'

'We're going shopping for my birthday present.' answered Jess, getting visibly excited by the prospect. 'He said I could have whatever I wanted.'

'Within reason,' Jamie said, 'I'm not made of money.'

Molly smiled, 'When's your birthday?'

'On Wednesday, but I'm not having my party until next week'

'And you'll be twelve right?'

Jess grinned, 'Yep, one year till I'm a teenager.'

Molly laughed slightly at the look on Jamie's face, 'I still remember when I turned thirteen, I was so happy to be able to say I was a teenager. It sounded so grown up.'

The three of them sat there for a while, happily drinking and chatting, Jess doing most of the talking. Jess turned to Molly and asked, 'Are you coming shopping with us tomorrow?'

'Well that depends, I'd like to, but only if it's ok with you.'

'It's ok.'

'Then I'd love to.' Molly said.

Jamie's phone then started to ring, he looked at it and grimaced when he saw the name Jack flash up on it. 'I have to take this, I'll be back in a minute.' Jamie walked out of the café and stood outside while he took Jack's call.

'Hey Molly.'

Yes, Jess.'

'You see that man over there,' she said pointing in the direction of the service counter. 'He works with you too, doesn't he? He stayed with me outside the cinema.'

Molly looked over and saw Ianto collecting some food. When he saw her he walked over. 'Hi.'

'Hi Ianto, you remember Jess?' Molly said.

'Yeah, course I do, from the cinema right. How are you Jess?'

'I'm ok, thank you.' said Jess quietly.

'Picking up a food order?' said Molly looking at the bag in Ianto's hand.

'Yes, going to be working late. Jack had a call about that meeting scheduled for next week, it's been moved forward.'

'That's what the call's about isn't it.' Molly didn't want to say anything else, but she had a feeling that it had been called forward to tomorrow. She looked up to see Jamie coming back in. Ianto noticed too.

'Well, I'd better be off, nice to see you again Jess.'

'Bye,' she said waving shyly.

Jamie came back over and sat down, not looking at all happy. 'That was work,' he said. 'Jess, I'm really sorry, but I'm not going to be able to take you shopping tomorrow. Something has come up at work, and I tried really hard to get out of it, but my boss won't let me.'

Jess's face fell a little, but she tried to keep a brave face. 'It's ok.'

Molly looked at her, then said. 'We could still go shopping. We could have a girl's day, it could still be fun.' Jess's face lit up again.

'Really?.'

'Sure, if it's ok with your dad.'

Jamie smiled warmly at Molly, 'It's fine. Look, It's getting late, we are going to have to make a move, if you're going out tomorrow.' They all got up out of their seats, Jess leading the way to the door. When she was out of earshot, Jamie said, 'Are you sure you don't mind?'

'No, I don't mind. It will give us a chance to get to know each other.'

'Thank you.' said Jamie and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. They said their goodbyes and then headed home.

X

Jamie dropped off Jess at Molly's the next day, and they walked into town.

'So, any ideas what you want to get.' Molly asked Jess.

'I need something for my party, I want a dress.'

'Ok, let's see what we can find then.'

'I bet you have better taste than my dad.' said Jess. 'He has no idea.'

Molly laughed, 'My dad wasn't good at that sort of thing either, not that we went shopping much together, but when we did, he waited outside the shop.'

They spent a few hours going round as many shops as they could before finally taking a break for lunch. Jess still trying to decide which of all the dresses she had tried on, she wanted to go back and get. Molly was having a good day, but she couldn't get over this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that they were being watched. She wasn't sure whether this was the case or if her imagination was being overactive. She looked around, but couldn't see anything overly suspicious. After they finished lunch, they headed back to New Look, where Jess bought one of the first dresses she had tried on, and new shoes to go with it.

'Come on, let's go back to mine, we can wait for your dad there.'

'Ok, thanks Molly, I had a really good day.'

'Anytime.'

Molly and Jess started to walk back towards Molly's flat, when Molly heard the sound of tyres speeding towards the street they were in. Molly turned in time to see a van speed around the corner and pull quickly to a halt next to them. She instinctively stood behind Jess, and started to walk quicker, but then the side of the van opened and three men jumped out. One made a grab for Molly, who shouted at Jess, 'RUN.' Jess took off running, but one of the men went after her, and grabbed her, lifting her up and carrying her back towards the van, hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. Molly managed to use her free arm to punch the man holding on to her making him stumble. He lunged at her again and she hit him once more, this time knocking him down. Molly went to go after the man holding onto Jess, but she didn't notice the third man behind her. The last thing she felt was a blow to the back of her head, before everything around her went black.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N. Thank you for all your reviews for the last chapter, i'm glad that my twist at the end was unexpected. As much as i love fluff, i do love my drama and cliffhangers too. Enjoy the next chapter, the good news is that i am nearly finished with the next one. :) Cookies to reviewers.

Chapter 29.

Molly wasn't sure how long she had blacked out for, but when she woke up, it took her a minute to focus on her surroundings. She was sat on the floor of the van, and she also realised her hands were tied behind her back. She started looking frantically around for Jess, but couldn't see her.

'You're awake.' said a male voice from behind her. The man then moved and knelt down in front of her.

'Where's Jess?'

'She's at another location, she's safe for now.'

'I don't know who you are, or what you want, but you have to let her go.'

'No, I don't think I'm going to do that. We've been watching you for a long time, the fact you had that girl with you today is a bonus for us. Quite honestly I think she'll make a better hostage.'

Molly tried to move forward to get to the man, but he just pushed her down and struck her on the side of her face with a gun he was holding in his right hand. Molly fell back down, but didn't show how much it hurt her, even though she could feel the blood trickle down the side of her face. 'What do you want?'

'There are certain things that I need, and you can get them for me.'

'What things?'

'The first is a device that I believe you spent some time working on, it can black out a room, turn it silent. Secondly I also need what you call retcon.'

Molly stared at the man in horror, how did he know about these things, and worse what did he need them for. If you put all the things together that he wanted, you could commit no end of crimes, and get away with them. 'I don't know what you're talking about?'

'Maybe, you'll be more co operative if I get one of my colleagues to do this to the girl.' He said as he slapped Molly.

'No.' said Molly trying not to panic. 'I know what it is you want, but how do you know about that stuff.'

'I used to have an associate that helped me procure items such as these, but because of you, and who you work for, he is now unable to help me.'

Molly was stunned by this as she realised exactly who it was he was talking about. 'The people I work with, they can get you that stuff, just let Jess go, she can pass on your demands.'

'Like I said, not a good idea. You are going to go and get me the things that I want, and when you have them I will trade them for the girl.'

He leant over Molly and started to untie her hands, whispering in her ear as he did so, 'Don't think about trying anything, or it won't end well for you or her.'

'At least let me talk to her, please.' Molly begged.

'I thought you might ask that.' he said as he reached over to where he had a laptop. 'Here.'

On the screen Molly could see Jess sat in what looked like a small room, to her credit she was trying her best not to look scared, even though Molly could see it in her eyes. 'Jess.' she said. There must have been someone with her, with a webcam as Jess looked into it and said. 'Molly, is that you? Where are you, what's going on, are you ok.'

'It's going to be ok Jess,' said Molly, not convinced at her words, but at the same time admiring the fact that Jess seemed more concerned with how she was than herself. 'I promise that I'm going to come and get you.'

The screen was then abruptly turned away from Molly.

'Go and get me what I want, and I'll be in touch.' The man pulled Molly up to her feet and then opened the door of the van. He pushed Molly out of the door and then slammed it shut. It then drove off at speed leaving Molly standing by the roadside shaking. She took a deep breath to calm herself, before realising she was just around the corner from the Plass. Even though her head was hurting quite badly now, and she could still feel blood on her face from the cut she had, Molly ran as fast as she could around the corner, onto the Plass and to the entrance to the Tourist Information. Molly hurried as fast as she could down into the Hub.

Jack was sat in his office when he heard the alarm on the cog door sound. He stood up to go and see who was coming in. He expected to see Gwen and Jamie back from the UNIT conference, as he knew it wasn't Ianto, as he had gone down to the cells to feed the weevils that were in there. Jack walked out of his office and looked down to see Molly rush in. He was about to make a comment when he caught a glimpse of her face, it was bloodied and bruised. He rushed down the stairs to meet her as she came in, 'What the…' he started to say, but stopped as Molly swayed slightly as if she was about to pass out. 'You need to sit down.' Jack led Molly over to the couch and sat her down.

'They took her,' Molly said making to get up again, but her legs were unsteady and Jack held onto her and made her sit down again.

'Don't get up. Take a deep breath, and tell me what happened.'

Molly sucked in a breath, and let it out slowly before saying, 'They took Jess, they took both of us. I tried to get them to let her go instead, but they wouldn't, they wouldn't listen to me.' Molly spoke as fast as she could, hoping this would stop the tears she could feel forming at the back of hers eyes.

Jack inwardly cursed as he put his arm round Molly trying in some way to comfort her. With his free hand he activated his comms and said, 'Ianto, I need you to get back up here, and bring the first aid kit with you. I'll explain when you get here.'

Ianto appeared about a minute later, and as he hurried over he stopped in shock when he saw the state Molly was in. 'Oh god, what happened.' He said rushing over. He grabbed some gauze out of the kit and pressed it against the wound on Molly's head. 'That might need stitches. Jamie will have to take a look at it when he's back.'

'He's going to kill me. This is all my fault. I should have been able to stop them, to protect her.' Ianto looked up at Jack a little confused.

'Molly and Jess were snatched earlier, they still have Jess.' said Jack.

Ianto leant in to hold Molly in a fierce hug, Jack moving his arm out of the way so he could do so.

'Molly can you tell us what happened?' said Jack.

Molly pulled back out of Ianto's hold and looked at Jack, then nodded. She then told them what had happened from when the van pulled up to them, until she was let go.

'And you have no idea, who they were? Asked Jack.

'No, I didn't really see the ones who jumped us, and I didn't recognise the man that was talking to me in the van.'

'This was not your fault, it sounds as if they were going to take you anyway. You couldn't have stopped it.'

'Maybe not, but I'd rather be the one they were holding than Jess.'

'I understand that, but they obviously didn't think twice about hurting you. You said Jess looked unhurt, that's a good thing.' Jack stood up, and took his phone out of his pocket. 'I need to find out where the others are.' He walked away and rang Gwen. 'Gwen, how long until you're back… Good, come straight back to the Hub, we have a situation.' Jack didn't say anything else, not wanting to have to explain this over the phone. 'Ianto, I need you to start looking at any CCTV footage you can find, to try and find that van. Gwen can help when she gets back.'

'What can I do?' asked Molly.

'You can sit there and wait until Jamie checks out that head wound, I don't want you going into shock and passing out.'

Molly went to argue, but the look on Jack's face told her not to try. Molly went over to her desk and picked up a notepad, before sitting down again. She had to do something, so she tried to write down everything she could remember, even trying to sketch the man that spoke to her. Not too long later and the alarm on the door sounded again, and in walked Gwen and Jamie. Gwen gasped when she saw Molly, while Jamie rushed over to her.

'Are you ok, what happened? Where's Jess, is she ok?' Jamie said, reaching out to look at the cut on her head, but Molly pulled back out of his reach and tears began to fall.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I…I.. couldn't stop them.' she managed to choke out.

Jack came back over. 'Gwen, can you go and help Ianto, he'll fill you in. Jamie, over here,' he said gesturing for him to move out of earshot of the others.

'I need to know what's going on, where's my daughter?' he said his voice rising, but moving over to Jack.

'We don't know. Molly and Jess were ambushed, they still have Jess.' said Jack.

'WHAT', shouted Jamie, looking round at Molly, who now had her head hidden in her hands. 'Who were they, what do they want, what are you doing about it.' All the questions tumbling from his mouth in one go.

'We don't know who they are yet, but we will find them.' said Jack. 'They will pay.' He said a steely determination in his eyes, no one did this to any member of his team, or their family and got away with it. 'We know what they want, and I'm going to work on getting that.'

'But why, why her?' said Jamie, his voice breaking slightly with the emotion.

'This isn't what you are going to want to hear, but it's just a case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From what Molly told us, they've been watching her for while. It seems they were all poised to take Molly today anyway, Jess being with her was bonus as far as they were concerned.'

Jamie didn't know what to say, he was torn between feeling sick and punching the wall. He settled for reaching an arm out to the nearest wall for support.

'You need to go to Molly. She's hurting as much as you are at the moment.' Jack said. 'You need each other. We will keep working on what we can find out.'

Jamie stood up and walked over towards Molly. He had so many emotions going through him at that time, but when he saw Molly's face again properly, the doctor in him took over. 'Here,' he said moving the gauze away from her head. 'Let me look at this.' He pulled open the first aid kit and gently cleaned the wound up, before covering it over with more gauze and taping it into place. 'It's ok, a little deeper and it would have needed stitches. I'll keep an eye on it.' Jamie then moved his fingers over the bruise on her cheek. 'Whoever did this is going to pay.'

'I tried to get them to let Jess go, instead of me.'

'This isn't your fault, Molly. You didn't know you were being watched. I should have been with you today.' Jamie sat down next to Molly on the couch and pulled her towards him. 'Did you see Jess before they let you go?'

'Yeah, I saw her on a webcam, she looked fine. She asked me if I was ok.'

'That sounds like her, worrying about others before herself.'

'She's brave, I think she takes a lot after you.'

Molly and Jamie sat there for a minute, just holding each other in silent support, before they heard Ianto say. 'I think we have something.' They went over to the computer where he was working with Gwen, and Jack joined them too.

'It took some time, but I found a traffic camera, just over the road from where they jumped you. It's not a great angle because you can't see the men properly, but it gives us a rough place to start.'

They all looked on as the footage played of what had happened. The van pulling up, the men jumping out and Molly trying to fight them off before being knocked unconscious. Jamie took hold of her hand and squeezed it tight. 'There's no way, you could have stopped them, there were too many.'

'Didn't go down without a fight though.' remarked Jack.

'So what do we do now?' asked Jamie, 'because I need to get out there and do something.'

'We've managed to pick up the van on a couple of different cameras, so we are trying to see if we can work out some kind of route,' said Gwen. 'It may give us an idea of where they went at least.'

'The bigger problem is though, we have no idea who they are, and we have no images that can help us.' said Ianto. 'I don't like the idea of dealing with people like this without even a vague idea of who they are.'

'There's someone that can probably help with that though isn't there.' said Molly quietly. The others looked at her. 'Come on, I bet you're all thinking it, just none of you want to say it. They said they had an associate who helped them get items like the ones they want now, and that we stopped him.' Molly took a deep breath. 'We need to talk to Alex.'


	30. Chapter 30

A/N. Thank you to rosieposy, NoOneNotEvenMe, and Aswen for your reviews for the last chapter. I hope you enjoy the next chapter, i'd forgotten how much fun it was to write Alex. He's a bad guy, but i think that's why he's fun to write. :)

Chapter 30.

The other four members of the team looked at Molly, trying to take in what she had just said.

'No way,' said Jamie.

'You can't be serious.' said Ianto.

'Look, I hate myself for saying it, but he is the one person that's going to know who these people are.'

'He's never going to help us, I doubt he wouldn't even see us.' argued Ianto.

'He'll see me.' said Molly.

No.' said Jamie, pulling her around so that they were standing face to face. 'After everything that's happened, everything you told me the other night. You think I'm going to let him anywhere near you.'

'Do you think I want to see him? I'd be very happy never to set eyes on him again, but I have to do this, for Jess. Plus I'm doing this on my terms, not his.'

'She has a point.' said Jack. 'Alex is the only one that is likely to know who we are dealing with, and I bet he'll talk to Molly.'

'Then I'm coming with you.' said Jamie.

'I appreciate that, but no. If you come with me, if he even knows you are there, he'll get hostile and won't be any help. Last time you were together, you fought.'

'Yeah, last time you saw him, he tried to kill you!' The words were out of Jamie's mouth before he realised what he was saying.

'Oh, really, that must have slipped my mind.' said Molly sarcastically, pulling back from Jamie.

'Ok you two, stop arguing, that's not going to get us anywhere.' said Jack trying to break the tension that was rising in the Hub. 'I'll go with Molly, she'll be fine.'

'I need some air.' said Jamie, before he turned and stormed out of the Hub.

'I'll go after him, make sure he's ok.' said Gwen, 'I can call Rhys on my way, tell him I won't be home.'

'I need a drink.' said Molly and she headed off towards the kitchen.

'Are you really going to let her do this Jack?' said Ianto, when Molly was out of earshot.

'What choice do we have, she's the only one that has even a chance of getting him to tell us anything.'

'You can't believe that he's going to tell the truth. He's just going to use it as an excuse to torment her. Look at what happened last time he was here.'

Jack reached out and took Ianto's hand. 'I know you're concerned about her, but this is different. Last time Alex surprised her by turning up here, caught her completely off guard. Molly said it herself, she's doing this on her terms. I can't answer whether or not he'll tell her anything, but I have a feeling that we shouldn't underestimate what Molly is capable of, especially considering what's at stake here.'

Ianto sighed, 'Yeah, I know. I just hope he doesn't manage to shatter whatever confidence she has built back up. You better make sure she's ok.'

'I promise,' said Jack and he kissed Ianto on the cheek. 'Can you call UNIT and set up a meeting with General Andrews, he will probably be the most helpful. Tell him we're on our way, then maybe try going back through some of the files we have on Alex, see if you can get any clues.'

'What about Jamie?'

'Gwen, can look out for him. I'll go and see if Molly's ready to go, hopefully we won't be long.'

Jack walked across to the kitchen and found Molly leaning on the counter, a glass of water held tightly in her hand. 'You ready?'

'As I'll ever be.' she said.

'Do you know what you're going to say.'

'I have an idea, maybe you could help me work on it, on the way.'

'Sure, come on, the sooner we go the sooner all this will be over.' Jack paused. 'Do you want to speak to Jamie, before you go?'

Molly shook her head. 'No, I think he needs his space at the moment. He'll only try and talk me out of this.' Molly paused, 'But this is something I have to do.'

Jack and Molly left the Hub quickly and went down to the car park. They got into the SUV and started the journey to UNIT.

X

Gwen found Jamie leaning against the railings looking out across the Bay. The wind was starting to pick up in the early evening air, and sky looked as if it was threatening rain. She walked over to him and leant against the railing next to him.

'I shouldn't have stormed out like that.' Jamie said.

'I think it's understandable, it's not an easy situation.' said Gwen, knowing this was an understatement. 'I can't even try and put myself in your shoes, because if someone took Mary, I don't know what I'd do.'

'I feel so helpless, and guilty. I should have been with them earlier, if I was maybe it wouldn't have happened.'

'You can't know that, what if's are the worse thing to think about. If this gang have been planning on getting at Molly, or any one of us, they would have done it.'

'That doesn't make me feel better though, because if they didn't have Jess they'd have Molly and I'd still feel like this.' Jamie sighed and then turned around. 'Seeing what they did to Molly just…' Jamie trailed off, not able to put into words everything he was feeling.

'We will get them for what they did. They don't mess with Torchwood and get away with it.'

Jamie smiled a little at that, it was true and right now he really appreciated it. 'We should go back in and see what we can do. Standing here feeling sorry for myself is not going to get Jess back. I can apologise to Molly too.' Jamie tried to sound confident, even though deep down he didn't feel it.

Gwen and Jamie walked back to the Hub, and were a little surprised to see Ianto on his own.

'Where are Jack and Molly?' asked Gwen.

'They left to go to UNIT.' said Ianto.

'So she's going through with it. She's really going to go and talk to Alex.' said Jamie.

'Yes, she's feels it's the best way to find out who's behind this.' said Ianto, then seeing the look that Jamie was giving him added. 'I know you're not happy about this, but she believes she can get the information out of him.'

'At what cost though.' said Jamie, 'You know as well as I do what he did to her.'

'Yeah I do, but have you thought that maybe she needs to do this. Maybe by confronting him head on she can get some kind of closure on the subject.'

'Well, we'll see won't we.'

Gwen decided to interrupt, 'So what can we do while we wait for them to get back to us with something.'

Ianto, grateful for the distraction as he didn't particularly want an argument with Jamie considering things were still strained between them, explained what Jack wanted them to do while he was gone.

X

Jack and Molly arrived at UNIT and were greeted by General Andrews. 'Captain Harkness, Miss Jameson,' he said holding out his hand to each of them. They both took it in turn to shake it. 'Nice to meet you in person finally, although I wish it was under better circumstances. Your colleague Mr Jones gave me all the details over the phone. Follow me.' The General led them through a series of corridors and locked doors, until they reached a corridor that had two rooms in it. As they walked they discussed what was going to happen when Molly entered the room. Molly was starting to get nervous.

Jack turned to her. 'Are you sure you're ok to go through with this?'

'Yeah.' Molly said, even though her hands were shaking a little, and she was feeling rather queasy.

'Just remember, I'm in the room next door, if you need me to come in, I will.'

Molly nodded and walked towards the door, she reached out and took hold of the door handle. She pulled the door open as confidently as she could and she walked into the room. It was a fairly small room, with one table and two chairs, as well as a one way mirror. Alex was sat on one of the chairs, his hands cuffed to it. Molly sat down on the chair opposite him.

Alex looked at Molly for a minute and then smirked. 'When they said you were here, I didn't believe it, yet here you are Moll. Did you miss me?'

'In your dreams, I try to think about you as little as possible.'

'Can't help yourself though sometimes I bet.'

'Look this isn't a social visit, I need some information.' Molly said, trying to steer the subject to the object of her visit, because she knew he was trying to bait her.

'Is it something to do with those bruises and that cut on your face? Argument with your boyfriend, what was his name, Jimmy?'

'It's Jamie, and he never did this. Unlike some people I can think of he doesn't think beating people is the answer to everything.' Damn Molly thought to herself, she was letting him suck her into his games. She took a breath, 'The people who did this to me, are associates of yours. They ambushed me in the street and did this', she said gesturing to her face.

'I wondered how long it would be before I got the blame. Do you honestly think I was behind it? How would I manage to organise it, when I'm stuck in a cell twenty four hours a day, only seeing another human when I get my meals, or when they decide they want to question me.'

'I didn't say you organised it, I said that the people who did this were associates. You used to get them items. Now they want me to do the same. I want to know who they are.'

'Why, so you can go after them because of what they did to you, leave it alone Moll.'

'The thing is, that when I was taken off the street, I wasn't alone. I had an eleven year old girl called Jess with me at the time, and they took her too. They still have her.'

'Well, I'm sure when they get what they want they will let her go. Who is she to you anyway, you don't have any relatives that age?'

'She's Jamie's daughter.'

Alex laughed, 'Way to go Moll, you go out with the boyfriends daughter and she ends up kidnapped. Are you sure he didn't do that to you.'

Molly decided to ignore his comment and get back to the subject at hand. 'I need to know who these people are. I know you Alex, you are many things, but I can't believe even you could leave an eleven year old girl to the mercy of men like this. I'm sure buried somewhere deep down you have some form of conscience.'

There was a pause, and then Alex replied, 'What's in it for me?'

Molly knew from this answer that she nearly had him. 'You're in here for no set period of time right, which basically means forever. What if I said I have got General Andrews to agree to a set period of time?'

'How long?'

'Twenty years.'

Molly watched him as he thought this over. She glanced up at the one way mirror in the room and gave a small smile, just to let Jack know that she was ok.

'The people who took you, are they after the device that we worked on at your base?'

'Yeah, you know them.'

'Greg and Toby Wallace, they made their fortune selling alien artefacts on the black market, and by supplying criminal gangs with devices such as the one they want now.'

'You knew all this and still gave them what they wanted?'

'They paid well.' said Alex shrugging his shoulders. 'So then, you got what you wanted, maybe I'll see you in twenty.'

'Sorry, what do you mean, you'll see me in twenty.'

'Twenty years when I get out of here, I'll look you up.' Alex said smirking again.

'I think you misunderstood me, I meant twenty years per crime.' said Molly.

'What!' said Alex incredulously, 'When I asked what the set period of time was, you just said twenty years, not twenty years per crime.'

'Really,' said Molly with mock innocence, 'Oh sorry, that bit must have slipped my mind. I can see how that makes a difference, because you're being held on quite a few crimes aren't you. You're not really any better off now, than you were before I came in' Molly stood up at this point and started towards the door, leaving Alex with his mouth open.

'You can't do this to me.' cried Alex getting desperate now, he had always thought he would manage to get out of his current situation, but now he knew it was hopeless.

Molly turned around and walked back to the table. Then, looking Alex straight in the eye, for once not feeling at all intimidated, she said, 'I think I just did.' She then straightened up and strode to the door. She walked out, not looking back as the door closed behind her.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter, i'm glad people liked seeing Molly get one over on Alex. There is no action in this chapter, but it is building towards the rescue, which i am currently working on and hope to have up at the weekend. I warn you though it's my work's Christmas party on Saturday (in November strange i know!!) so it might not be until Monday lol. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 31.

Jack had been watching Molly in the interrogation room with Alex. He was in the room behind the one way mirror with General Andrews. He had started to worry at one point that Alex was getting to her, and that he might have to go in. Jack knew though that this course of action would cause Alex to clam up completely. The small smile that he saw Molly direct at him made him relax slightly, and when she finally got the information and Alex realised he had been had, Jack couldn't help but laugh. The look of complete horror on Alex's face and his cries of frustration as Molly walked out of the room were a picture. Jack hurried out of the room and met Molly in the corridor, she was leaning against the wall, smiling.

'I think from now on, I'm going to let you interrogate all our suspects' said Jack grinning.

'I don't really think you could call that an interrogation,' said Molly still smiling. 'God it felt good though, did you see his face when he realised I'd tricked him.'

'Yeah, it was a picture. I'm thinking I might have to get a copy of the CCTV footage from that room, the others should see it. I'm proud of what you did in there, you got the information we needed and didn't let him get under your skin.'

'He was starting too, but I just focused on Jess.' Molly answered, her smile fading when she thought about Jess. Jack reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Everything is going to work out. Let's get back to the Hub, I'll ring Ianto on the way to give him the information, ok.

Molly just nodded her head. General Andrews then came out of the other room and joined them. 'Well done, Miss Jameson' he said. 'You have just got more information out of him in the short time you were in there, than anyone else that has ever tried.'

'Unfortunately for me, I know how his mind works. It was just a case of turning it against him.'

'Just remember, any time you feel like a change from Torchwood, you can always come and work for UNIT'

'Hey, are you trying to poach my staff?' said Jack.

'There's no harm in trying.' answered the General.

'It's a kind offer,' said Molly, 'but I'm happy where I am.'

'If you ever change your mind, you know where I am. I will get the device that you want to borrow bought up for you, and then you can be on your way'. It was ten minutes before a UNIT soldier appeared carrying the device. He then escorted Jack and Molly back to the SUV, Jack phoning Ianto on the way. They then started the journey back to Cardiff.

X

Back at the Hub, time seemed to be at a standstill. Waiting for some kind of news from Jack and Molly had put everyone on edge, and they were getting nowhere with their research. Ianto had pulled all the files they had on Alex, but there was nothing useful in them. Gwen and Jamie had continued trying to work out where the van had gone after Molly and Jess had been taken, but they had no luck with this either. Whoever was behind this, were very organized and were clearly avoiding main routes where they were more likely to be picked up on camera. They spotted it a few times, but not enough to work out where it went. It didn't help that Jamie seemed to glance at the clock every few minutes. Then, finally Ianto's phone started ringing, breaking the silence that had descended on the Hub.

'Jack.' said Ianto as he answered it. 'Ok…Really,…'

Jamie started getting impatient, hearing only one side of a phone call was not helpful. He was worried for Jess, worried for Molly having to go and see Alex and also mad at himself for arguing with her before she left. He looked over to Ianto and saw him typing something on his keyboard

'Ok Jack, see you when you get back.' Ianto then carried on typing into his computer.

'So are you going to share, or was that a private conversation.' snapped Jamie moving over to Ianto's computer. As he looked at the screen, two pictures flashed up on the screen.

'This is Greg and Toby Wallace, the people behind today's events.'

'She did it.' said Jamie. 'She got the information.' Jamie allowed himself as small smile at the thought.

'Yeah, and from the sounds of it, it was interesting to watch. Jack sounded pretty impressed. Now we see what we can pull on these two before they get back.'

'I'll see if they have any kind of criminal record, or if they have ever at least been connected to a crime,' said Gwen.

'I'll help you.' said Jamie.

They went back to work, pulling up whatever they could on the Wallaces'. It was a few hours later when the alarm on the cog door sounded, announcing Jack and Molly's return.

As soon as Molly had walked through the door, she found herself being wrapped in Jamie's arms, as he had rushed over and pulled her close. 'I'm so sorry for what I said earlier, the last thing I wanted was for you to leave mad at me.'

Molly pulled back slightly so that she could look at Jamie. 'I wasn't mad, we both said some things we shouldn't, but given the situation, it's understandable.'

Jack walked over where Ianto and Gwen were, Molly and Jamie following a few steps behind. He put the device down on the desk and asked, 'So, have you found out anything useful?'

'Yes, once we had names it was easy.' said Gwen. 'Well done Molly.'

'Yeah, how did you get him to tell you what we needed to know?' asked Jamie.

Molly told them about what had happened with Alex, and how she had tricked him. By the time she had finished, the others were all laughing.

'God, I would have loved to have seen that.' laughed Ianto.

'I have to admit, it felt good.' smiled Molly. She then looked up at the screen at the images of the two men, and her smile faltered. 'That's the one that was in the van with me.' Molly pointed at the image of the man on the left.

'That's Greg Wallace, apparently the less violent of the two.' said Gwen.

'If he's the less violent one, then I don't want to think what the other ones capable of.' said Molly, subconsciously rubbing the side of his face.

'What do we know about them?' asked Jack.

'They are brothers, and have been linked to numerous crimes, but with no evidence and any witnesses mysteriously disappearing, nothings been pinned on them,' said Gwen. 'They are both lawyers, so they have the legal knowledge to get through any police investigations that comes their way, and they know all the loopholes. They use their office base to sell on alien gadgets to either criminal gangs, or people with too much money. According to some contacts I spoke too, they use any means necessary to get what they want. The Wallace's have plenty of heavies that work for them, so they don't tend to do the dirty work themselves, if they do then it's serious.'

'I'm getting deja vu.' said Molly as she sat down on a chair. 'It's like Benjamin Clarke all over again.'

'Who?' asked Jamie puzzled. The others nodded knowingly.

'Someone else who thought using stuff from the Rift for profit was a good idea.' said Molly.

'Sadly, Clarke and the Wallace brothers won't be the last ones who use alien technology for their own purpose. Some people will do anything to make money. I'd rather deal with aliens any day.' said Jack.

'We also discovered that the Wallace's have a lot of property, office buildings, warehouses, even farmland. There's no way of knowing where they could be holding Jess, it would take too long to try and check them out.' Ianto informed them.

'Right,' started Jack, 'We need to find out what we can about each building that they own, so that when they call with their demands and give us a place to meet, we will have some idea about the place.'

They divided up the properties and got to work researching them. About half an hour later, Molly's phone started to ring. She looked up in surprise, it was now the early hours of the morning and the only people that would ring her at this time were sat near her. She looked at the caller ID which flashed _Unknown. _Her surprise turned to trepidation, she pressed accept on the phone and spoke. 'Hello.' The others hearing the phone ring, gathered around her, Ianto started up a tracing programme.

'I'll get straight down to business,' said the male voice on the other end of the call. Molly set the phone to speaker so that the others could hear. 'I assume the other members of your team are listening in, so I should tell you it's pointless trying to trace this call, I've jammed the signal, one of the more useful pieces of technology I own.' The voice sounded so smug that Molly wished she could just reach down the phone to punch him.

'Where's my daughter?' Jamie couldn't help but call out.

'The girl is fine. Do you have what I want?'

'We have it, but I need proof Jess is alright.' said Molly, jumping in before Jamie could. She knew the situation needed to stay calm and she could see Jamie getting visibly more edgy.

'Fine, give me an email address and I'll send you the video link, don't bother trying to trace that either.'

'Ok,' answered Molly and she sent him a secure email address that was not connected to Torchwood, just in case he tried breaching their system. Molly received the link almost straight away, and opened it to see Jess sitting in the same small room she had been before.

'Jess' said Jamie walking over to the screen, trying to hold back tears that were forming.

'I hope that satisfied you.' said the man's voice as the image on the screen faded, 'Now, I want you Molly, to bring me the device in one hours time. I won't bother saying come alone because I know you won't, but you all better be on your best behaviour, because my team and I have no trouble shooting any of you, the girl included.'

'If you so much as touch her, I'll…' shouted Jamie towards the phone before Jack dragged him away.

'You see it's things like that I don't appreciate.' The man's voice now had a dangerous edge to it. 'I will send you the co ordinates and we will meet in an hour.' and with the he cut the call.

'He was right, I couldn't trace it.' said Ianto.

The phone beeped again, and Molly entered the co ordinates that she had been sent into her computer.

'We have our rendezvous, it's one of the farmhouses.'

'Great,' muttered Ianto. 'The farmhouses are the trickiest to plan any type of surprise around, too much open space.'

'Maybe so, but I think I have an idea,' said Jack. 'Get together your equipment and weapons, and meet at the SUV in fifteen minutes, I'll fill you in on the way.'


	32. Chapter 32

A/N. Sorry i'm a little later than i said, but as this chapter is quite a long one i'm hoping you'll forgive me. :) My Christmas party was great though, i just had to recover from it. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter and to those who have added it to their favourite lists, i do appreciate it. Enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 32.

The SUV pulled up to the little dirt track that led up to the farm, five minutes before the deadline was up. The meeting place was one of the farms that the Wallace brothers owned. It was about half a mile out of the city and the small track was the only access road up to it. At the end there was a farmhouse and a large barn. The five team members all climbed out of the SUV and stood at the rear of the vehicle finalising what they were about to do.

'I don't like this plan' said Jamie.

'We got that the first three times you told us.' muttered Ianto.

'Well, I'm sorry, but I just really don't like the idea of Molly going in there, unarmed and alone.'

'I'll be fine, as long as you are all doing your part nothing is going to happen.' Molly said, trying to soothe Jamie's nerves.

'This is the best way,' said Jack, 'We have to take a more subtle approach.' As he said this Jack noticed the others exchanged amused grins. 'What?'

'It's just you and subtle aren't usually two things you'd put together.' said Gwen trying not to laugh.

Jack tried to look insulted by what Gwen said, but he knew she had a point. 'Yeah, that maybe true, but if we go in with the all guns blazing approach, all we are going to succeed in doing is getting ourselves and Jess killed. If they sense some kind of ambush coming they will not hesitate to open fire.'

'I'd better start going, I don't want to be late.' said Molly.

'You remember everything we talked about on the way?' asked Jack.

'Yes.'

'We'll be right behind you.'

'I know.' Molly smiled and picked up her bag before turning to walk up the track. She had only gone a few steps when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned around to finding herself face to face with Jamie. Without saying anything he leant in and kissed her. When they broke apart, Molly blushed slightly knowing the others were watching. 'What was that for?' she asked. Molly noticed that Jamie had a hint of fear in his eyes. 'It better had been for good luck'.

'It was for luck.' said Jamie, although there was a part of him that was worried how this was going to turn out. Molly smiled at him and then carried on walking along the track. Jamie went back to join the others.

'Ok, we don't have long to try and get into position. Hopefully Molly can buy us enough time.' started Jack. 'Any idea how many people there are up there?'

Gwen tapped at her PDA, 'I can make out five people on the perimeter, but they must have something blocking the buildings, as I can't make out how many are in there at all.'

'There's probably at least as many inside,' mused Jack. 'Let's get going, Ianto and Gwen, you know what you have to do.'

They both nodded and turned to walk in the same direction Molly had a few minutes earlier, although they ducked into the trees that lined the route for cover.

Jack turned to Jamie. 'Before we go there's something I need to say. I know this difficult for you, they have your daughter and Molly's going in there too, but you have to keep calm and do exactly what we've planned. I can't have you going in there and letting your emotions get the better of you or else you will put everyone at risk.'

'I know what's at stake here, Jack'.

'Good, because if you don't think you're going to be able to handle this, then you can stay here.'

'I'll be fine.'

'Ok, let's go.'

X

Molly got to the end of the track and was met by a large built man holding a gun. He gestured that she should follow him, which she did, the feeling of apprehension growing inside her stomach. Molly was led into the barn building and couldn't help but let her mouth drop slightly at the sight that greeted her. From the outside the barn had looked like any barn you would find on a farm, but the inside reminded her a little of the Hub. There were computers set up, strange looking gadgets and artefacts lying around that definitely did not originate on earth. There were two other men in there too, all working with one of the pieces of technology. On some of the wooden pillars that held the building up, were different types of weaponary. As she stood in the middle of the room, the man who bought her in behind her, she saw the door at the other end open and in walked Toby Wallace. Molly shivered slightly at this, remembering what had been said about him being the violent one when they had been looking at the pictures in the Hub.

'So, you came alone,' he started. 'Although I'm sure your team are somewhere nearby.' Molly just stared at him, not saying anything. 'So shall we get this over with, hopefully without bloodshed.' Toby smirked a little when he said this, almost as if he was hoping for some kind of fight. 'You have the device.'

'Of course.' said Molly handing over the bag she was carrying to him. Toby opened the bag up and pulled out what was in there.

'Is this some kind of trick? This is only half the device. And where is the other stuff we asked for?'

'No it's not a trick, it is only half the device. Did you really think I was just going to walk in here and hand the whole thing straight over to you.'

'If you had had any sense you would. Maybe now I should just kill the girl.' Toby stepped up close to Molly as he said this, his face not that far away from hers.

Molly smiled at him, 'You're not going to do that.'

'What makes you so sure, you broke our deal.'

'Because if you kill her, I won't tell you where the other half is, and without it that part is useless.'

'Then maybe I should just kill both of you.'

'You obviously don't want that device as badly as I thought then.' Molly was portraying a lot more confidence than she was feeling. She knew that she was playing a dangerous game, but they needed to get the power balance in their favour, or at least on equal terms. If she was honest with herself, she was more scared than she thought possible. 'I need to know Jess is fine before I let you have the other half, and the retcon you wanted. One of my colleagues has them, and as soon as they have confirmation that both me and Jess are ok, they will bring them.'

Toby seemed to consider this for a moment before whispering something to the man behind Molly. This man then nodded and walked away out of the building by the same door Toby had just entered. He then gestured for one of the men working at a computer to come over and take the first half of the device he had off him.

'You have quite a collection of things here.' Molly said.

'They come in handy, and we make a lot of money selling them.'

'I bet. Do you even care about the consequences of what happens after you sell them?'

'That's not my concern, I'm a businessman. I give people what they want, they can do what they want with it.'

Molly couldn't believe the arrogance of the man standing with her. He really didn't care. The door at the other end of the room opened again, and the big man back walked back in, followed by Toby's brother Greg, and Jess. Molly instinctively stepped forward towards her, but was stopped when Toby grabbed hold of her arm and pulled it behind her. Molly winced slightly, but stopped where she was.

'Jess, are you ok?' she called across.

'I'm ok. Am I going to be able to go home soon?'

'Yeah, soon.'

'Ok' interrupted Toby. 'How about we…' He trailed off when he heard a shout coming from outside and the unmistakable sound of gun fire. 'Looks like your friends are going to be joining us.' Toby said, his grip on Molly's arm tightening, while on with his free hand he took his gun out of his jacket.

X

Ianto and Gwen were stood behind a tree, just a little way from the barn. There were two men patrolling the outside and they were just waiting for the right moment to make their move.

'I still get shivers when I'm near a place like this.' whispered Gwen. 'Normally I stay as far away from the country as possible.'

'Yeah I can understand that.' Ianto whispered back. They both knew what the other meant.

They both looked over to the barn, the two men were having a conversation. Gwen nodded at Ianto and they both started to move forward, stun guns at the ready, the plan was to take out the men on the outside as quietly as possible so that those inside wouldn't be alerted to their presence until it was too late. They went over as quietly as they could, the man with his back to them was taken out quickly as Ianto stunned him before he had chance to realise their presence. The second man saw them and moved to the side as Gwen went in to stun him. He knocked her off balance slightly, but she steadied herself enough to stop him from hitting her with his gun. She raised her arm and pushed the gun into his side, and stunned him. With both men down, Ianto and Gwen made their way to the door of the barn.

X

Jack and Jamie had taken the other side of the building, making their way up as carefully as they could. They didn't have quite as much cover as Ianto and Gwen had so they had to keep ducking down behind the vehicles that were parked up near to the farm house. They were crouched behind a Land Rover when they spotted Jess being led out of the farm house and into the barn by Greg Wallace. Jamie's instinct was to rush over to her, but he stayed where he was, remembering what Jack had said earlier about following the plan. He knew Molly was inside the building and one wrong move out here could end in disaster for her in there. He silently took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. There were three men on this side of the building, which meant it was going to be tricky to take them out without them being able to alert those inside. Jack leant over to Jamie and whispered, 'we go on three, stay low and we can hopefully take out the nearest two before the third guy realises what's going on ok?' Jamie nodded, then Jack counted, '1...2...3'. Jack went to the left and Jamie to the right of the vehicle they were behind. They moved as fast as they could, both keeping low, they weren't quite as lucky as Ianto and Gwen had been though. One of the men noticed them just as they were getting close and shouted out to the other two to look out. Jamie managed to stun one of them. Another of the men tried to punch Jack, but his reflexes were too quick and he dodged the blow, the man swaying slightly as he missed giving Jack the time to stun him. The third man pulled a gun from his pocket and opened fire on them, forcing Jack and Jamie to take cover at the side of the farmhouse.

'Can you keep him distracted?' Jack asked Jamie.

'Yeah, why?' Jamie said wondering what Jack was about to do. Jack just grinned and started to run up the side of the house disappearing round the corner. Jamie took his gun out of his pocket and fired around the corner causing the other man to take cover behind a bin that was by the house. As Jamie stopped firing he saw Jack appear at the other side of the house, he snuck up behind the man firing at Jamie and stunned him. Jamie rounded the corner and went up to the door of the barn, Jack quickly catching up with him.

X

Inside the barn Molly had heard the gunfire and prayed that nothing bad had happened to any of the team. She was still in the middle of the barn with Toby Wallace holding on to her arm tightly. Jess had been moved away from the door and was stood by one of the computer tables, Greg Wallace still with her. The door by which Jess had been bought in by opened first, Jack and Jamie entering with their guns raised. A moment later Ianto and Gwen came in through the other door, their guns raised too.

'The rest of the Torchwood team,' said Toby. 'So predictable that you would come too.'

'Let Molly and Jess go now, or this is not going to end well for you.' answered Jack.

'Not until I get what I want, and you're not exactly in a position to give me demands. I don't believe you want to risk anyone's life unnecessarily.' To emphasize his point he increased his grip again on Molly's arm and raised his gun so it was pointing at her head. 'I want the rest of the device.'

'Ok,' said Jack. 'It's in my pocket.' Jack slowly reached into the pocket of his great coat with his free hand and pulled out the other half of the device. He moved carefully toward where Toby and Molly were and then shouted 'Catch!' and he threw the device in their direction. Toby instinctively released his grip on Molly and reached out to catch it, but he missed and it clattered to the floor breaking into pieces. Molly took this opportunity to get out of the way and ran over to the side of the room Ianto and Gwen were standing. Gwen handed Molly her weapon. Toby was infuriated and shouted 'Shoot them!'

The other men in the room, who up until this point had stayed where they were, as if awaiting this instruction moved into action. So did Greg Wallace who went to help his brother, this left Jess standing on her own and she ducked down behind the computer table trying to hide from what was going on. Ianto and Molly stood behind one of the barns pillars, as did Gwen, looking round briefly to try and get a shot at the two men shooting at them. Jack and Jamie were behind a table on the other side of the room, the large man and the Wallace's shooting at them.

Gwen fired a shot into the computer that one of the men was crouching behind. The sparks that flew out of it when it was hit caused the man to raise his hands in front of his eyes, this gave Gwen the opportunity to get over to him and she hit him on the back of the head with her gun, making him fall unconscious to the floor. She went and stood behind the second man, who then realised he was outnumbered as Ianto and Molly moved from around their pillar. He dropped his weapon and put his hands in the air as he had no desire to get shot. Gwen moved him over to where the first man was lying and stood by them, gun still pointed at them. 'Go and get Jess, I'll watch these two.' she said. Ianto and Molly started over to where Jess was to make sure she was ok, and to try and get her out of the building.

On the other side of the barn Jack and Jamie were pinned down behind a large table by the Wallace's and the large man.

'It seems we have reached a stalemate.' Greg sneered. 'Neither of us seems to be winning.'

'Then put your weapons down, we'll call it a draw and all walk out of here.' Jack called over.

'I don't think so,' said Toby. 'It just needs a change in tactics. We can't seem to shoot you, but maybe we can get one of them, and then the day won't be a total loss.'

Jack and Jamie looked up over the table in horror as they saw Toby and Greg turn and point their guns over to where Ianto and Molly were helping Jess towards the exit of the building. Jack and Jamie didn't have enough time to react before the Wallace's fired, the gunshots ringing out in the building, and seemingly moving in slow motion as they headed towards there targets.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N. I'm blaming the lateness of this chapter on my goddaughter who passed on a bug that had me in bed for two days, either that or it was karma for the cliffhanger i left you with. It wasn't all bad though as i spent the time watching my Torchwood boxsets. :) It took a little while to get this chapter right, but i'm pretty happy with the result, it's just hard when you have a lot of things going on in a scene at the same time. I don't think i was too evil with what happens. Thank you for all your reviews and enjoy. :)

Chapter 33.

Ianto and Molly were leading Jess towards the exit of the building when the noise on the other side of the room caught their attention. They could tell that Jack and Jamie were trapped by the Wallace's and their heavy, but their priority was to get Jess out first, so she didn't have to witness any more than she already had. As Ianto glanced over his shoulder he saw the Wallace's turn in their direction with their guns raised. 'Molly get down!' he yelled as the guns were fired. Molly, hearing the shots as Ianto shouted at her, threw herself down onto the ground. Ianto was nearer to Jess and he pushed her out of the line of fire, she fell down on to her knees and scrambled to hide behind the nearest pillar. This action put Ianto right in the line of fire, and as he went to down to the ground he felt a bullet hit him in the shoulder, and he landed hard on the ground. Molly looked on in shock as she saw Ianto get hit and fall down, she looked over at Jess who was behind the pillar with her hands over her ears and her eyes shut. Molly managed to sit up and she started firing in the direction of the Wallace's, hitting Greg square in the chest and he fell to the floor. Molly then crawled over to where Ianto had fallen, she could see the blood pooling on the floor from where he had been shot. Molly was relieved to see that, although Ianto was out cold, he was still breathing. She instinctively put her hand over the wound to apply some pressure to it, and try to stop the bleeding.

X

Over on the other side of the room, Jack and Jamie both yelled 'NO!' as they saw what was happening. Jamie threw himself over the table he had been behind as he watched the Wallace's fire at the others. He just about registered Ianto pushing Jess out of the way, but he was too focused on getting over there. He launched himself at the third guy who was still facing them, and knocked him to the ground, both of them losing their guns in the process. The fact that this guy was much bigger than Jamie didn't seem to matter at that point as Jamie was so angry. He punched the guy hard, causing his head to hit the floor of the barn with such as thud he was knocked unconscious. While Jamie was taking this guy out, Jack went for Toby. He grabbed Toby's arm causing him to fire in the air and away from the others. Toby went to punch Jack, but Jack moved out of his way. They both saw Greg hit the ground as Molly fired back, and this aggravated Toby even further. He went for Jack again, this time managing to hit him, knocking him off balance. Toby turned and went forwards towards Molly raising his gun at her, 'You shot my brother, you're going to pay.' Molly closed her eyes as she waited for the shot to be delivered, she was unarmed as she had dropped her gun when she went over to Ianto. Molly flinched when she heard a gun go off, but when it registered in her head that she hadn't felt any pain she opened her eyes slowly, and saw Toby lying on the ground just a few metres away from her and Jack standing a little way behind him, his gun still raised. Molly sighed with relief.

Jack and Jamie came hurrying over to where Ianto and Molly were. Molly could see the worry etched all over Jacks face as he knelt down on the other side of Ianto. Jack took hold of Ianto's hand in one of his and with his other, he stroked the side of his face. Jamie took off the back pack he was carrying and pulled out some gauze and took over from Molly, he carefully pulled back the top of Ianto's shirt to put inspect the wound as best as he could under the circumstances, and then placed the gauze over the wound. 'Thankfully, I don't think this is as bad as it looks, but I'm not going to know until we can get back to the Hub and I can look properly. The bleeding is definitely slowing. He has a strong pulse, and his breathing's fine.'

Jack heard what Jamie was saying, but as Ianto was lying there unconscious he was having trouble believing him. He wouldn't be reassured until Ianto woke up. 'Gwen,' Jack called over his shoulder. 'Can you go and get the SUV?'

'Sure.' Gwen said and she headed towards the door. She had been securing the two other men when the shooting had happened, and hadn't been able to do anything quickly enough as it would have risked one of the men getting free.

Jamie got up and went over to where Jess was hiding behind the pillar, her hands still over her eyes. He knelt down carefully in front of her. 'Jess, it's ok sweetie, it's over.' Jess peered through her fingers just to make sure she had heard right. When she realised Jamie was in front of her, she flung herself into his arms, sobbing quietly. 'It's ok,' he said. I need to know if you are hurt though.' Jess looked up at him and shook her head.

'I..I'm fine,' she managed to say, 'but what about Ianto?' She pointed over to where Ianto was lying, and Jack was knelt still holding his hand.

'He's going to be ok, nothing I can't fix.' Jamie said giving her a small smile, which she returned. 'I have to go back over there though for a minute, ok.' Jamie really didn't want to leave his daughter now, but he was sure that she was not hurt physically, and he needed to keep an eye on Ianto.

'Where's Molly?' Jess asked. Jamie looked around and spotted her leaning against a wall, giving everyone their space. He caught her eye and gestured her to come over, which she did, limping slightly.

'You ok?' Jamie asked as she came and sat down next to them.

'I think I twisted my ankle when I dived for the floor, but it's nothing serious.'

'You'll have to let me look at it later.'

Molly nodded and then Jamie went back over to Ianto. 'Jess, I think we should get out of here now, lets go outside.' Jess nodded and got to her feet following Molly towards the exit.

'Did those men do that to you?' Jess asked looking at the bruise that had formed on Molly's cheek and the cut on her head.

'Yeah, but I'm ok.' When they got outside, Molly sat down on the ground to rest her ankle and Jess sat with her.

'Molly, can I tell you something.' Jess started.

'Sure,'

'I was really scared in there.'

Molly smiled, 'That's ok, I was too.'

'You were?' Jess replied surprised. 'I couldn't tell, I thought you were brave going in there on your own. You all were.'

'Sometimes what you see on the outside isn't the same as what you feel on the inside. There was no way I was going to let those men know how scared I was.'

As they sat there Gwen pulled up in the SUV, she ran inside to let the others know. Between them Jack and Jamie carefully carried Ianto and got him into the SUV, both of them sat with him in the back. Molly and Jess got into the front and Gwen drove. Realising that Jess was going to have to be out of the car before she could go back to the Hub, she spoke to Jamie.

'Where do you want me to take Jess?'

'My place is on the way. Jess are you alright if Molly stays with you at my house until I can get home.'

'Yeah.'

'That ok with you too Molly?'

'No problem.'

'Dad, are you going to the hospital?'

'Yeah, I just have to make sure Ianto's ok before I can come back.' He knew that half of this was a lie, but he couldn't tell her the truth about where they were actually going. Jamie told Gwen his address and she dropped Molly and Jess off before heading to the Hub. Once they were out of the car Gwen said, 'I called General Andrews at UNIT on my way to get the SUV and he's sending a team to clean up and to sort out the equipment the Wallace's had. I made sure that he knows we need to have access to his reports, and that we might want some of the items in there.'

'Ok' answered Jack although he was barely concentrating on what she said. He was too focused on Ianto and what could have happened. If the bullet had gone just a few inches in a different direction the outcome would have been a lot different. Jack shook his head slightly trying to get these negatives thoughts from his head, he had lost Ianto once and he was not going to lose him a second time. Jack knew though that he was not going to feel any sort of comfort until Ianto woke up. Gwen pulled into the underground car park and Jack carefully carried Ianto into the Hub and down to the medical bay. Jamie set to work, first removing Ianto's jacket and shirt so that he could inspect the bullet wound properly. He ran a scanner over it and located the bullet that was luckily not too deep in Ianto's shoulder. Jamie removed it and stitched up the wound. He then gave Ianto a shot of a strong painkiller.

'That should help with the pain when he wakes up.' Jamie said to Jack who was sitting next to the table holding Ianto's hand.

'Shouldn't he be awake by now?' Jack asked, not successfully keeping the worry out of his voice.

'I think he'll wake up soon, and at least now he's had some painkiller he won't be in as much pain when he does. It's likely he also got a knock to the head when he went down.'

Jack sighed and waited. Jamie left them alone and went up into the main part of the Hub to phone Molly and Jess. About ten minutes later Jack felt Ianto's fingers twitch in his hand, and he looked up to see Ianto opening his eyes. 'Jack,' he said weakly.

'Yeah, I'm here.' Jack answered leaning in and placing a soft kiss onto Ianto's forehead. 'You gave me one hell of a scare.'

'Sorry, didn't mean too. Is Jess ok?'

'She's fine, thanks to you. Molly too.'

Jamie came back down the stairs on hearing the voices coming from the medical bay. 'How are you feeling' Jamie asked.

'My head feels a little fuzzy, but my shoulder doesn't feel too bad, which is surprising.'

Jamie smiled, 'That would be the industrial strength painkiller I gave you. I will leave you with some more for when that starts to wear off.'

Ianto started to sit up, Jack getting up to help him. 'Any chance of something to put on,' he asked having realised he didn't have anything on his top half.

'I'll go and get something.' said Jack. 'Won't be a minute,' and he ran up the steps two at a time, leaving Ianto and Jamie alone.

There was silence for a moment before Jamie broke it. 'I don't know how I can thank you for what you did, you saved my daughters life.'

'It was more instinct than anything, when I saw those guns pointed at us, I just reacted and pushed her out the way.'

'Well I appreciate it, and I also want to say I'm sorry for acting like an idiot ever since that stuff with the virus and Molly. I'm also sorry that it took you getting shot for me to realise I was being an idiot.'

'It's ok, really.'

'If I'm honest I think some of it was because I was jealous.'

'Jealous? Why?'

'Because of the relationship you and Molly have, the way she talks you so easily. God I feel stupid for admitting that, but I might as well get everything out in the open now I've started.'

'It's not stupid. It wasn't always like this between Molly and me, it took a while to get like this. In time it will be the same with the two of you, probably even better.'

Jamie smiled, 'Yeah I know.' He was feeling better having got this off his chest. 'You know, maybe we need to get to know each other better too.'

'Sure, i'd like that.'

Neither of them had realised Jack had come back down the steps until they heard him speak. 'If you two need to hug it out don't mind me,' he said grinning as he walked over.

'I'm good thanks.' answered Jamie as he went over to his computer.

When Jack reached Ianto he wrapped a blanket that he had fetched around him. 'I thought this would do for now.' Ianto smiled and pulled the blanket around him, being mindful of his injured shoulder.

'I could really use something to drink right about now.'

'Gwen's just gone out to pick up some coffees and breakfast. I told her she could go home after that, you can go too Jamie. I think we all need some sleep.' said Jack. 'I can keep an eye on the Rift monitors.'

'Sounds good.' Jamie answered. He was anxious to see how Molly and Jess were, but at the same time he was wondering how he was going to deal with the repercussions of the events that had just taken place.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N. This is a slightly shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to post it because it tidies up the end of the last chapter. I want to dedicate this update to rosieposy, Aswen and Nezumi-88 who left me some really nice comments about the last chapter. Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to your reviews. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 34.

Jamie tidied up all the equipment in the medical bay and got ready to leave, Gwen had already gone. Jack and Ianto were still sat on the sofa upstairs, although Ianto was now dressed in some spare clothes that he had at the Hub. Jamie walked up the stairs and went over to them, handing Ianto a small bottle with some pills in it.

'Take two of these painkillers in about four hours, and then only if you need them. Any worries, call me, but the main thing you need is to rest.' Jamie said.

'No problem,' answered Ianto, 'The thought of falling into bed right now is really inviting.'

'Really?' said Jack, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

'You did hear the part where I said rest, right,' Jamie said looking at Jack.

'Yeah, I heard.' Jack replied. 'I'll make sure he takes it easy. I have a great bedside manner.'

'Well, it's certainly improved.' said Ianto, trying his hardest to keep a straight face.

'That's definitely my cue to go, because this conversation is going down a path I don't want to follow.' said Jamie. 'See you tomorrow.' He turned and left the Hub, leaving Jack and Ianto alone.

'I was thinking,' started Jack.

'Uh oh, not a good sign.' answered Ianto smiling.

'I was thinking,' Jack started again, 'that you should go back to your flat.'

'Are you trying to get rid of me?'

'Never. I just thought it would be a better place for you to get some rest, quieter and more relaxing.'

'You're probably right. You are coming as well though?'

'Try and stop me.' said Jack leaning over to Ianto and pressing a delicate kiss to his lips. 'I'll send the alert to my wrist strap, but hopefully the world won't decide to end in the next twenty four hours.' Jack got up from the sofa and helped Ianto up too. They left the Hub and decide to take the SUV, the flat wasn't far, but neither really had the energy to walk. After they entered the flat they headed straight for the bedroom. They both undressed, Jack having to help Ianto with his shirt so as not to move his shoulder unnecessarily. Ianto climbed into the bed and curled up on his uninjured side. Jack got in behind him and curled around him, his arm draping over Ianto's waist. It didn't take long before both were asleep, comforted by the others presence.

X

As Jamie entered his flat, he was a little apprehensive. He still wasn't sure how he was going to be able to explain this all to Jess. He walked through the flat, which was quiet, except for the low sound of the television. Jamie went into his front room and smiled at the sight before him. Both Molly and Jess had fallen asleep on the sofa. Molly was sitting up, her head leaning against the side, Jess had her feet up on the sofa and her head was leaning on Molly. Jamie was pleased that even after everything, Jess was still comfortable in Molly's presence. Jamie went over and carefully lifted Jess up, carrying her towards her room. She shifted slightly in his arms, but didn't wake up. He placed her in her bed, pulling the covers up over her before kissing her on the top of her head. She looked so peaceful lying there, it was hard to believe what had happened over the last day or so. Jamie went back to the front room, and sat down on the sofa next to Molly. He picked up the remote to turn off the television, and then turned to Molly's sleeping form. He shook her gently. 'Molly.'

Molly started to wake up, looking at Jamie through sleepy eyes. 'Hey,' she said, blinking to wake herself up more. Jamie put his arm around her and pulled her into him. 'Must have dozed off. Where's Jess?'

'It's ok, I've put her to bed.'

Molly smiled. 'She wanted to wait for you to come home, so we put the TV on. She fell asleep more or less straight away though. How's Ianto?'

'He'll be fine. I got the bullet out and stitched him up. I also apologised to him too for acting like an idiot.'

'About time, do you know how hard it was when you two weren't getting on.'

'Sorry.' replied Jamie apologetically. 'Come on, you need to sleep.'

'So do you.'

'True.' Jamie hesitated. 'Can I tell you something first though.'

Molly looked at him questioningly. 'Sure.'

'I was really worried this weekend. I could have lost Jess, and I could have lost you. Worse, I could have lost both of you.'

'But you didn't, we're both fine.' Molly said reassuringly. She pulled away from Jamie slightly so she could look him straight in the eye, but she took his hand and interlinked her fingers with his.

'I know, but still it made me realise that I have to say what's on my mind. This might not be the ideal time or opportunity, but I love you.'

Molly smiled and leaned forwards kissing Jamie softly. As she pulled back she whispered, 'I love you too.'

'Really?' said Jamie, who then felt stupid for questioning this, but he hadn't expected Molly to say it back straight away.

'Yeah, I do, and your timing is fine. I don't need some big romantic gesture, just knowing you feel that way is enough. I never thought I'd allow myself to feel this way for anyone, and I certainly never expected anyone to reciprocate the feelings.' Molly admitted, blushing slightly as she did.

It was Jamie's turn to close the gap between them and he kissed Molly as hard as he could, trying to pour all the love he was feeling right then into it. When they had to break for air, they broke apart smiling.

'I really do need to sleep now,' said Molly, 'but maybe we can carry this on later when we're alone.'

'It's a deal.'

They walked hand in hand to Jamie's room, and both fell into a deep, peaceful sleep moments later.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter, i do appreciate them. The next couple of chapters are going to be about Christmas, so i'm staying away from drama, well there maybe some personal drama, but nothing serious. I can't be mean at Christmas. This chapter is the planning of what they are going to do and it also gives a little insight into what they were all doing the previous Christmas when they weren't together. Next chapter will be set on Christmas Eve . :) If anyone wants to give me any suggestions about what they might buy each other than please leave me a review or PM me as i'm a little stuck for some of them. Thank you and enjoy.

Chapter 35.

The next couple of weeks after the events with the Wallace brothers, were pretty uneventful. They had been out a few times weevil hunting, and a strange piece of technology had come through the Rift, which they were still working on, but other than that it had been quiet. The five team members were sitting in the boardroom, fresh cups of coffee in front of them, enjoying this lull in Rift activity.

'As it's nearly Christmas, we should get a tree to put up in here.' said Gwen.

'As long as it's a plastic one, because I am not cleaning up pine needles for the next week.' replied Ianto.

'It doesn't matter what sort it is, it would just brighten the room up and help everyone get in the Christmas spirit. It is the first Christmas we'll be sharing.' Gwen continued. 'We should do something, maybe on Christmas Eve.'

'That sounds good.' agreed Molly. 'We could have a meal or something, strictly no work talk.'

'I can bring Rhys and Mary too.'

'I have Jess on Christmas Eve, so she would have to come along too.'

'You sorted things out with Kate finally?' Molly asked turning to Jamie.

'Kind of, she is at least talking to me now. Jess will be no trouble, in fact she'll probably spend most of her time playing with Mary, she loves children. I have a feeling she's going to be a teacher or nursery worker when she's older.'

'Sounds good to me,' said Gwen. 'She's at an age now where she on the go constantly, so anything that keeps her occupied is fine by me. What do think Jack?'

Jack thought about this for a moment. 'You know, it's been a long time since I've done anything like this. Sure why not. What's the Rift predictor showing though, no point in organising something if there's going to be a spike.'

'It looks ok for Christmas Eve, not so good for Christmas Day though. There's a potential spike late afternoon.'

'So all we need now is somewhere to have this get together, it can't be here if Jess and Mary are going to be coming.' reasoned Ianto.

'We can do it at my place,' said Jamie. 'I have the biggest place, and I don't mind cooking, as long as I have some help.' he said pointedly looking in Molly's direction.

'I will prepare the stuff, but you have to cook it. My culinary skills are not that good.'

'This is sounding great,' enthused Gwen. 'Hopefully a lot less stressful than last year.'

'Why? What happened last year?' asked Ianto.

'We had a family get together what with it being Mary's first Christmas. Rhys's bright idea.' said Gwen rolling her eyes. 'I'm surprised war didn't erupt. My mum and Rhys's mum were constantly sniping at each other. I honestly thought after we were married they would get on better, but no, after Mary was born they went back to their old ways. Each trying to outdo the other with presents and things. Never again. What did you all do?'

'I spent the day at work.' said Jamie. 'I always have Jess Christmas Eve, although Kate did say I could go over on Christmas Day, but that's an offer I never took up. It would be too weird.'

Jack sat listening to the others, it was nice to hear them talking about the more normal things in life, but he couldn't help but remember that this time last year he had been alone with only his memories to keep him company. He wished that he had known sooner that Ianto was still alive and that he could have been here with him. He was intrigued to find out what he had been up too.

'What about you Ianto?' Jack asked. 'I know you were living differently last year.'

At Jack's question Molly started giggling quietly, although it was loud enough for the others to hear and give her quizzical looks. Ianto, however blushed slightly.

'Something you'd like to share with the group Molly? Asked Jack.

'Well, it's just…I'm not sure how well Ianto remembers last Christmas Eve.'

'Hey,' said Ianto indignantly, 'I was not as drunk as you like to make out.'

'Right, because you usually walk through the streets of Cardiff at 2am singing Jingle Bells.' The others started to laugh at Molly's words, while Ianto blushed a little redder.

'I had three glasses of punch, that was it.'

'You didn't see how many spirits Stacey put in that punch, why do you think I only had one.' Molly was smiling at the memory. 'It's a ten minute walk from Stacey's house where the party was to the flat, and it took us over half an hour because I had to prop him up as we walked. I'm just thankful we didn't have to go up any stairs.' Gwen and Jamie were still laughing, even Jack was smiling at the though of Ianto being drunk, but the smile Molly noticed didn't quite reach his eyes and she briefly wondered whether talking about this was the right thing. When with the others they rarely talked about what they did in the year before Jack came back and Torchwood reformed, because they were well aware that Jack and Gwen had been under the impression that Ianto was dead and so it didn't seem right to talk about it unless they were alone. The question had been asked though and it was starting to get a little personal between Ianto and Molly.

'Is that how you want to play it,' said Ianto, turning in his seat so that he was looking directly at Molly. 'Why don't you tell them why you were hiding in a closet.'

It was Molly's turn to blush as everyone's gaze now turned to her. 'I wasn't hiding exactly, I was avoiding someone who was trying to get me under the mistletoe.'

'Who?' asked Gwen. 'I take it, it wasn't someone you liked.'

'No, his name was Ryan and he was a total creep. I was in the hallway and I saw him coming, so I ducked into the cupboard under the stairs to avoid him. Anyway you got in there with me.' There was a brief silence before Molly said. 'I've just realised how that sounded. It was completely innocent.'

Ianto laughed, 'I saw you go in there, I wanted to know what you were doing.'

'Didn't anyone notice the two of you disappearing.' said Jamie.

'Well, we were spotted coming out, so some people did get the wrong idea, but that actually worked in my favour because I never saw Ryan after that.'

'Stacey certainly knew how to throw a party.'

'Yeah, maybe we should crash this years.' Molly smiled, although it was with a hint of sadness. She still kept in touch with Stacey, but only occasionally. There were always the inevitable work questions and it was hard enough keeping the truth from one person, but in a whole room of ex colleagues it would be a nightmare. Plus they would ask about why they had left and Molly had no idea how she would even begin to cover that.

'Going back to this year then,' started Jamie, 'are we all agreed that we will come to mine for Christmas Eve, barring an unscheduled alien invasion?' The others nodded, thinking that this would be a nice normal thing to do, which was unusual for them.

'Oh, I just thought of something.' Molly said. 'I have some pictures of last year, maybe I'll find them out.' The others, apart from Ianto, started to laugh again.

'You wouldn't dare.' said Ianto.

Molly just grinned and then got up out of her seat and hurried out of the boardroom to continue her work at her computer.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N. Thank you for your reviews for the last chapter, very much appreciated. This chapter is set on Christmas Eve and is a little influenced by my love of Wii Sports Resort. :) There will be a Christmas Day chapter, but it won't be up until the weekend. Enjoy this chapter, it was nice to write something so normal, although it wasn't easy. Normal and Torchwood don't usually go together lol. Merry Christmas everyone, i hope you all have a great time. x

Chapter 36.

Christmas Eve arrived without incident and the plans to have a get together at Jamie's were firmly in place. Molly had spent the morning helping Jamie preparing the food for later that day, but had left when he had gone to pick up Jess, as she had to go back home to get ready. Molly was back at Jamie's just before 4pm, they had decided on an earlier start because of the children. Molly knocked on the door and after about a minute Jamie answered it.

'Hey.' he said, as he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

'Hi. You get Jess ok?'

'Yeah, she's in the lounge playing with her Christmas present.'

Molly rolled her eyes, 'I knew you'd give in and give it to her straight away.'

'We struck a deal, she had to lay the table and sort out the seating arrangements, then she could have her present.' They walked towards the lounge where Jess was playing on a Wii.

'Hi Jess,' Molly said as she entered the room.

'Hi.' Jess replied smiling. She pressed pause on her game and then went over to Molly and gave her a hug. 'How are you?'

'I'm good, thank you. You seem to like your present.'

'I love it, although…' Jess said lowering her voice to a whisper, 'I have a feeling dad got it as much for him as me.' Molly laughed.

'Hey, I heard that,' shouted Jamie from the kitchen.

'Your dad said you arranged the table, will you show me?' Molly asked.

'Sure' answered Jess, her face lighting up. Jess showed Molly into the dining room. There was a table set up, that had seven chairs and a high chair, that Jamie had got from Gwen earlier, set around it. There was a festive cover over it. There were also place cards so everyone knew where to sit. Molly went over and picked one up. 'Did you make these?' Jess nodded. Molly looked at how the places had been arranged and noticed that Jess had sat herself between Molly and Ianto. 'So how did you decide how to place everyone.'

'That was easy. I put Gwen, you, me and Ianto on one side and then Jack, dad and Rhys on the other so that everyone was opposite their partner. There's no one actually opposite me, but I think it works. Oh and then I put the high chair on the end because I wasn't sure whether Gwen or Rhys would feed Mary.'

Molly smiled and was impressed by how well thought out the seating arrangements were, and that Jess was definitely older than her years. 'So you didn't want to sit by your dad.'

Jess shook her head. 'Nah, I'd rather sit by you.'

''Thank you, it will be nice to sit next to you too. How about you show me how to play your new game.'

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Jamie went to answer it. Jack and Ianto were stood outside and Jamie could also see Gwen and Rhys getting their things out of the car. Jamie stood outside as Jack and Ianto entered, he took their coats and hung them the coat stand just inside the hallway.

'Go through into the lounge Molly and Jess are in there.' said Jamie. He then waited for Gwen and Rhys to come up the path. Gwen was carrying Mary, Rhys carrying a holdall, no doubt full of Mary's things. They came in and Jamie shut the door behind them and also hung their coats up on the coat stand. Jamie held out his hand to Rhys to introduce himself, as this was the first time they had officially met. 'Hi, I'm Jamie, nice to finally meet you.'

'Yeah you too.' said Rhys shaking his hand.

'Come through. I think we managed to baby proof everything.'

'Thanks. Mary's at that age where she's into everything.'

They walked into the lounge where the others were gathered and they said their hellos and either shook hands or hugged in greeting. Gwen put Mary down and Jess went straight over to her. 'She's so cute, she's looks just like you Gwen.' Jess said.

'Good job really, because you'd have to feel sorry for her if she looked liked her dad.' said Jack, causing the others to laugh.

'Watch it.' said Rhys looking a little offended.

'Molly what are you doing?' asked Ianto, looking over at Molly who was holding two controllers in her hand and pulling them back like a bow.

'Archery, and it's harder than it looks.' she answered, as the virtual arrow missed the target completely.

'You have a lousy aim.'

'Well, if you think you can do better, bring it on.' Molly said offering up the controls to the game, which Ianto took.

The atmosphere in the apartment was as care free as any of them could remember. Ianto and Molly were trying to outdo each other in archery, Jack was talking to Gwen, Jess was playing with Mary, and Rhys was in the kitchen helping Jamie, even though Jamie had insisted that he didn't have too. Half an hour after everyone had arrived and they were sat around the table, all in the places that Jess had set for them. Jamie and Molly then handed out plates with turkey on them, before setting the potatoes and vegetables in the middle of the table so that they could help themselves. Mary was sat in her high chair mashing the food in her hand, while Gwen was trying to coax her into at least eating some of it. Christmas crackers had been laid out and they all took turns in pulling them with the person next to them or across from them. Jack held out his cracker to Ianto and said. 'Pull my cracker,' with a rather suggestive look on his face.

Ianto rolled his eyes and replied. 'How do you manage to make everything sound so suggestive?'

'It's a gift, and you know you love me for it.' answered Jack . Ianto couldn't help but grin at him.

Everyone sat and ate as much as they could, chatting away merrily about everything except for work. Partly because Jess couldn't be allowed to overhear anything about what they did, but also for once they were able to pretend that this was the sort of normal thing they did all the time, and that aliens and Rifts in time and space didn't exist. Deep down they all knew this wouldn't last forever, but for now they were going to revel in it. After they had eaten their fill of dinner, the Christmas pudding was bought out.

'Did you make this?' asked Gwen.

'No, my culinary skill are not quite that good, I bought it.'

'You should have lied and took credit for it. No one would have known' said Rhys.

When all the pudding had gone Jamie started to clear the things away to the kitchen. The others all went back into the lounge, drinks in hand, except Ianto who followed Jamie into the kitchen. 'Can I help you clean up?'

'It's ok, you're a guest.'

'Yeah, but it will go a lot quicker if I help you.'

'Thanks, I appreciate it.' They started to clean up in a companionable silence until Jamie broke it. He cleared his throat at first unsure what to say. 'Ianto, can I ask you something.'

'Ok', Ianto replied a little cautiously at the nervous look on Jamie's face.

'I just wanted some advice on something, and I thought you'd be the best person to ask, but I need you to keep it to yourself.' Jamie knew he was rambling.

'What is it.'

'How do think Molly would react if I proposed to her?'

Ianto didn't know what to say for a minute. 'Honestly, I don't know.'

'I just wondered if you two had ever talked about it'

'We have in the past talked about whether or not we might get married, but that was before.'

'You mean before Torchwood.'

'Yeah. If you'd had asked me that question last year, I'd have said that she would say yes straight away. Now, I'm not sure and I'm sorry about that. If you want my advice though, go for it. You love her, she loves you, take the chance.'

'Thanks.' said Jamie. They could hear the sound of laughter coming from the other room. 'I wonder what's going on in there?'

This question was answered when Gwen can wandering into the room, with a big grin on her face.

'What's so funny?' asked Ianto.

'Well, Jess was showing us one of the other parts of her game, it imitates swordplay, you have to get your opponent off the podium. Anyway, Rhys was playing Molly and not doing very well, which Jack found funny, so Rhys challenged him.'

'Don't tell me Jack is currently losing?' said Ianto.

Gwen grinned even more, 'Yep, and I have a feeling Rhys isn't going to let him forget it.'

'This I have to see.' said Ianto and he hurried off into the lounge where Jack was looking mightily fed up as his character on screen was forced off the podium again. Rhys meanwhile looked triumphant.

'Take that, 2 nil to me.' boasted Rhys.

'Maybe we should have a real swordfight, see who comes off worst then.'

Rhys was about to retort when the doorbell rang. Jamie looked at his watch and noticing the time he said to Jess. 'Say your goodbyes Jess, that'll be you're mum.' Jess pouted slightly and was about to argue that she wanted to stay longer, but Jamie had already gone to answer the door. She went up to Molly and hugged her, then said Merry Christmas to everyone before heading towards the door. Jamie returned five minutes later.

'We better be going too, Mary needs to go to bed. Hopefully she'll go through the night and not be up too early. I could do with a lie in.' said Gwen picking Mary up and putting her coat on. 'Thank you for a lovely evening, this is the best Christmas Eve I've had in some time.'

'No problem, hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.' answered Jamie.

Gwen and Rhys got their things together, and then Rhys took hold of Mary so that Gwen could say her goodbyes to everyone. Jack and Ianto decided to go too. As they headed for the door Ianto went over to Jamie and said quietly, 'Good luck, if you decide to go for it tomorrow.'

'Thanks, have a good night.' They left and Jamie locked up behind them. 'So' he said turning to Molly, 'alone at last,' as they both collapsed onto the sofa.

Outside Jack and Ianto were walking towards the SUV. 'You know I was thinking,' started Jack, 'that I should maybe let you unwrap one present tonight.'

'Oh yeah,' said Ianto, 'and what would that be.'

'I can't tell you that, it's a surprise. I can promise you that you will definitely enjoy it.' said Jack, a grin on his face and his eyes twinkling mischievously in the lamplight.

''Well then, I can't wait to unwrap it.' Ianto replied taking hold of Jacks hand. They both picked up their pace and got into the SUV and back to Ianto's place as fast as they could.


	37. Chapter 37

A/N. Thank you for your lovely comments for the last chapter, they were much appreciated. This chapter is probably the fluffiest chapter i've written so far, but as it's Christmas i think lots of fluff is allowed. :) Thank you to rosieposy for her help with the gift ideas, i hope you like how i've interpreted some of them. On with the chapter, enjoy. Christmas cookies for reviewers. :)

Chapter 37. 

In the early hours of Christmas morning Jack lay awake looking at the ceiling, Ianto curled up against his side. He brushed his hand softly through the Welshman's hair and was rewarded when Ianto snuggled closer. Jack smiled to himself at this, and then grinned wider when he thought about the nights activities once they had got back to the flat. Their clothing lay on the floor, along with some red ribbons, which Jack had strategically tied on himself for Ianto to untie. Jack had promised an enjoyable present and it certainly had been.

'What are you thinking about?' Ianto mumbled sleepily from beside him. Jack had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Ianto stirring awake.

'Just thinking that this is how I'd like to spend every Christmas.' Jack answered turning so that he was facing Ianto.

'Yeah, me too. Is it too early for presents?'

Jack laughed, 'Yes it is, anyway you've already had mine.'

Ianto fixed him with a stare, 'As fun as earlier was, I'm hoping you got me something else, or else when people ask what you got me I don't know what I'd say.'

'I'm sure I could think of a way to explain it.'

'Yeah I bet you could.'

'It works both ways, I hope you got me something good.'

'I believe I got you something nice, but if things work out elsewhere, there might be something else too.' said Ianto cryptically.

'Really, what?'

'I can't tell you in case it doesn't work out.'

'You know,' said Jack pushing himself up so that he was leaning over Ianto, 'I have ways to get you to talk.'

'Oh, really.' answered Ianto,

'Yeah,' said Jack as he leant right down and captured Ianto's lips in a long, hard kiss.

When they broke apart, Ianto smiled up at him and said. 'Is that all you got.' Sensing a challenge Jack went back in for another kiss and they started on a repeat of earlier in the evening.

X

Jamie and Molly enjoyed a lie in until late morning and were now sat in the lounge eating bacon sandwiches and having coffee as they unwrapped their gifts. Molly had been given a spa pass from Jack and Ianto and was looking forward to using this when she had some free time. She was unwrapping a present from Jess, when she realised Jamie was looking slightly nervous.

'You ok?' she asked.

'What.. Errm yeah fine. Is the gift ok, Jess was worried you wouldn't like it.'

'It's lovely, I can't believe she remembered I said I needed a new one.' It was a purple purse with a clasp in the shape of a flower. 'Are you sure you're ok.'

Jamie took a deep breath and then handed over his present to her. Molly took it, suddenly a little apprehensive herself. She carefully unwrapped it and found that it was a small box, a ring box. Molly opened the box and inside was a white gold ring, with a small diamond in the middle. She looked at Jamie who was sat next to her, he took hold of her hand and said. 'I know this may seem sudden, but I love you, will you marry me?'

Molly didn't know what to say, so many thoughts and emotions went through her that she was speechless. The silence went on until it became awkward and Jamie had to break it. 'Please say something, even if it's no.'

'It's…It's just.' Molly stumbled as she tried to speak. 'I never expected this, you've taken me by surprise.'

'So it's not a no then.' said Jamie hopefully.

Molly stood up, still holding the ring box in her hand. 'I..I need to think about it.' Jamie looked disappointed, he would rather she had said no straight away, if she thought about it and then said no, somehow that would feel worse. Neither said anything again for a minute that seemed to stretch into eternity, then Molly spoke again. 'I have to go.'

'You can't just leave, we can talk about this.' Jamie said trying, but failing to not to sound too upset. This was not how he had seen this moment going.

'No, I have to be by myself for a little while, but I promise I will be back,' she said, kissing him on the cheek. Molly then turned and grabbed her coat from the peg and left the flat. She had no idea in that moment where she was going to go, but she knew she needed to think things through.

X

When Ianto woke up a second time, he saw that Jack was out of bed and getting dressed. 'What are you doing?'

'I need to go back to the Hub and check on that potential Rift spike.'

'Well, why didn't you wake me, I'll come with you.' said Ianto, making a move to get up.

'No, you stay there for a bit longer. There's something else I need to sort out while I'm there.'

'That wouldn't be something to do with my present would it?'

'Meet me in two hours and you'll find out, and make sure you bring my present with you.'

'Yes Sir,' answered Ianto with a mock salute and putting an emphasis on sir.

Jack groaned and leaned down for a kiss, 'Don't say that, or else I will never leave.'

Ianto chuckled and then snuggled back down under the duvet, 'Fine, I'll see you in two hours.' He then watched as Jack exited the room.

Jack took his great coat from the peg in the hallway and then left the flat. He walked the short distance to the Hub, using the invisible lift to gain entry. As the lift lowered he noticed a figure sat by one of the computers. He frowned, no one was supposed to be here. When the lift had finished it's descent he saw that the figure had turned around. 'Molly?' he asked. 'What on earth are you doing here?'

'Checking on the Rift predictor, which is fine.' answered Molly, but Jack saw straight through her.

'I had already said that I would do that so everyone could have the day off. What's the real reason, have you and Jamie fell out?'

'No. I just needed some time by myself to think things through, and this was the only place I could think of.'

'Why didn't you go back to your flat?'

'I didn't know what you and Ianto had planned, and I didn't want to get in the way.'

Jack walked over to the desk and leaned against it as he took in the contemplative look on her face. He also noticed that she was fiddling with a small box. 'Is that what I think it is?'

Molly passed him the box so that he could look. 'Yeah Jamie proposed.'

Jack opened the box and looked at the ring. 'It's a nice ring.' He passed it back to her and then continued. 'I take it you haven't said yes.'

Molly shook her head, 'I said I needed to think about it.'

'I know I probably wouldn't be the first person you'd choose to talk to, but you look like you need to talk to someone.'

'You don't want to listen to me go on.'

'Try me.' said Jack as he pulled a chair over from Gwen's terminal and sat down.

'When he asked, I was shocked, I mean we haven't been together that long, and then it hit me that maybe he was asking because he didn't know how long we would have together. Doing this job, it's not exactly the safest thing in the world. I then thought about my parents and I just had to get away and think about everything, it's a big decision.'

'Were you're parents not happy?'

'It's not that, completely the opposite, they were very much in love, but that's part of the problem. My mum died first and it destroyed my dad, he wasn't the same without her, and then six months later he was dead, because he got reckless. He never got over it, I could see it in his eyes. He tried his best, but…' Molly trailed off. 'Honestly, I think I'm just scared of what would happen if I lost Jamie.'

'That could still happen now though, not getting married wouldn't change that.'

'I know, but until today I hadn't really thought about the consequences, and I never knew how permanent we were, marriage would cement the relationship.'

'I'm not going to lie to you, if one of you dies doing this job, then the other one will probably never get over it. You can learn to live with it to some extent, but that hurt will never go away. I've lost countless people in my life and each one still hurts now. When Ianto died I wished in that moment that I could die too. I never got over that, I put as much distance as I could between me and this place and it was never enough. I was lucky though and I got a second chance. The thing is deep down I know that I face the same thing again, he is going to die, hopefully of old age, but still it's going to happen and I can't stop it.' Jack took a deep breath, he was sharing something that he hadn't shared with anyone. 'I'm still with him though, because I love him and I want to make the most of now and not think about the future for as long as possible. I would rather spend what time we have together, rather than apart because I'm scared of losing him.'

Molly was fighting back tears by this point, she had never heard Jack speak like this and suddenly everything was put in perspective. She knew what she had to do. 'Thank you Jack.'

'What for.'

'Everything, you've put everything in to perspective.' Molly stood up, and moved closer to Jack. He stood up too and she hugged him. As she did they heard the alarm sound on the cog door. Molly pulled away and said, 'I must go, I've got a proposal to accept.' She grinned and then ran past a bemused looking Ianto.

'What was that all about?'

'Long story, but the short version is Molly is going to go and tell Jamie she accepts his proposal.'

'You helped convince her.'

'She just needed someone to talk her concerns through with and I happened to be the one here.' Jack didn't want to get into the details of what he had said so he steered the subject away. 'So do you want your present?'

'Sure.'

'Follow me.' he said holding out his hand, which Ianto took. Jack led him up to his office, where in the middle of the room was a telescope. Ianto looked puzzled for a moment.

'I might not be able to take you to all the places I've ever been, but I can show you, with this.' said Jack. Ianto let go of his hand and pulled him into a hug.

'I don't know what to say, thank you. I love that you want to share that with me.' Ianto smiled and then said, 'Are you getting sentimental?'

Jack smiled back, 'Don't tell anyone will you, I have an image to maintain.'

'My lips are sealed,' replied Ianto. 'Do you want your present now/'

Jack's eyes lit up, 'Oh yeah,' he said somewhat enthusiastically. Ianto disappeared out of the office for a moment before coming back up to the office with a large parcel in his hands, which he had hidden in the Hub. Jack unwrapped the parcel quickly, discarding the paper in the floor. It was a new great coat.

'You're other one is starting to look pretty beaten up.'

'It's perfect, thank you. I don't know how you do it, these can't be easy to find,' said Jack shrugging off his old coat and slipping on the new one.

'I have my ways.' Ianto paused for a moment before handing Jack a key. Knowing Molly was accepting Jamies proposal had made his mind up about this one. 'Sorry this one isn't wrapped.' Jack took the key as Ianto said, 'I wondered if you'd move in with me, permanently.'

Jack's face broke into a big grin. 'I'd love too,' he said before grabbing Ianto and pulling him into a kiss that he hoped showed how much love he was feeling right then.

X

Molly ran all the way back to Jamie's flat, stopping only briefly to get her breath back before she knocked on the door. As soon as he answered the door, she said, 'If the proposal still stands then the answers yes.'

Jamie pulled her inside the flat and kissed her as hard as he could. When they broke apart, he said, 'Of course the proposal still stands.'

X

A/N. Now i get to plan a wedding and nothing can wrong there, can it? :)


	38. Chapter 38

A/N. Happy New Year everybody. I just want to say a big Thank You for all your support and all the wonderful reviews i have had in the last year, both on this story and my first one. It means a lot. :) Enjoy the next chapter and i hope you will all stick with me in 2010 as i have plans for this story and for some new ones. :)

Chapter 38.

In the days after Christmas changes within the teams personal lives had started to take place. Molly had moved in with Jamie, so that they could get used to living together and Jack had moved in with Ianto. Gwen had spent the first day back at work gushing over what a great Christmas she had had with Rhys and Mary, and had enjoyed telling them all about the presents Mary had received and how she had more fun playing with the wrapping paper than any of the actual presents. Things changed though when she discovered Jamie had proposed to Molly and that Molly had accepted, Gwen had literally squealed with delight and now she couldn't help but keep bringing up the subject of weddings every time she was with Molly. It was now New Years Eve and Molly was getting slightly fed up with all the questions, so eventually she made an excuse about having to leave her desk to go and get something, and fled down into the Archives. When she got down there Ianto was sat at his desk working through a pile of paperwork. He turned and looked as she came through the door, and he smiled at her. It had been a while since she had been down in the archives, so Gwen must be getting to her, he thought.

'Hey, everything alright?' Ianto asked as Molly slid down the wall and sat on the floor. He got up and went over to her. 'Can I join you?'

'Sure,' said Molly, and Ianto sat down next to her. 'I'm fine, except Gwen's badgering me with questions again and I have no idea what to say anymore. She keeps going on about seating arrangements and flowers.'

'You should have been here when she was planning her wedding.'

'I'm glad I wasn't. I appreciate she's trying to help, but it's just what she's coming out with is not what I want.'

'Do you have any ideas yet?'

'Well, we know it's going to be fairly small, particularly on my side. Apart from my uncle, who I don't think will even come, I have no family. There's my mum's friend Ruth, who I lived with when I first came here, and then a few friends, plus you, Jack, Gwen and Rhys, but that's it.'

'What about Jamie's side.'

'He's keeping it to just close family and friends, but his side will still be more full than mine.' Molly gave a sad smile. 'Doesn't matter though, it's the quality of your friends not the quantity right?'

'And you do have some of the best friends.' Ianto replied smiling.

'There is one thing I want to ask you though.'

'Ok.'

'You can say no, I won't be offended, it's just you're the only person I would want to ask.' Molly took a breath. 'Would you walk me down the aisle?'

'Me?' said Ianto, a little taken aback, but flattered all the same.

'Yeah, you're my best friend, I couldn't think of anyone better.' said Molly.

'I'd be honoured.' replied Ianto, leaning over to Molly and pulling her into a hug. The moment was interrupted by the sound of the Rift alarm. They both jumped to their feet and sped up to the main area of the Hub, where Gwen was already trying to locate the source of the alarm.

'So much for a quiet New Years Eve,' she grumbled.

'Be thankful we had a quiet Christmas,' said Jack coming over to join them. 'We were lucky to get that.' As soon as the words were out of his mouth the alarm went off again.

'Got a second alert coming in,' said Molly.

'Fantastic' said Ianto sarcastically. 'Where?'

'Mine's down on docks,' answered Gwen.

'Bute Park.' said Molly. 'Looks like Weevils.'

'Maybe they want to celebrate New Year.' said Ianto.

'Ok, Ianto, you and Jamie take the docks, the girls and I will take the park. Hopefully we can get this resolved fairly quickly.'

They all hurried to grab their gear and raced down to the SUV. Jack climbed into the drivers side, Ianto the passengers and the others got into the back.

'We'll get out at the park and you can come back and get us when the dock's have been dealt with.' said Jack. They reached the park quickly, Ianto silently making note of the red lights Jack seemed not to notice, so he could take care of any fines later. When they reached the park, Jack, Gwen and Molly got out and Ianto took over the driving. 'Be careful.' said Jack just before the SUV pulled away.

'You too' called Ianto.

It was starting to get late, so darkness had descended on the park. It was lit up by lights surrounding the paths, and there was some light coming from where people were setting up seats to watch the fireworks display that had been organised for midnight. It sounded like some sort of music was being put on to keep the people entertained. Jack, Gwen and Molly made their way to the edge of the woods where the signal was coming from. As they approached they could see four weevils heading towards a couple who were sat on a bench, oblivious to what was behind them.

'Right, Molly I want you to get that couple out of there, while me and Gwen distract the weevils. Then come back and help us. Try to take them down without the use of guns first, I don't want to start a panic in the park, ok?'

Gwen and Molly nodded and they silently followed Jack over to the edge of the woods. The weevils sensed their presence and ran at them, teeth bared in a full on attack. Molly managed to side step one that ran for her, to reach the couple on the bench, who had now realised something was happening and they were frozen with fright. 'RUN!' shouted Molly at them and this seemed to shake them out of their stunned state and they took off in the other direction. Molly turned to check on what was happening and was struck on the side of the face as one of the weevils was right behind her, and struck out at her as she turned. Molly felt it's claws scratch across the side of her face, followed by the sensation of blood running down her cheek. She caught a glimpse of what was happening to the others and it was not good. Jack had managed to disorientate one of the weevils, but was having trouble with a second. It grabbed him by the shoulder and he yelled out in pain as it dug it's claws into him. As it went to sink it's teeth into him though, Jack bought up his other arm that contained the weevil spray and sprayed it in it's face, causing it to let go, but not enough to knock it out and it went staggering in the other direction. The one that was after Molly went to attack her again, but she was too quick and sprayed it before it could touch her. The problem was the spray was proving to be more ineffective than usual, it was disorientating the weevils, but not knocking them out completely. Gwen had been knocked to the floor by the weevil she was fighting, but she had also now disorientated it with the spray. As she got up and straightened herself up, there was a low whistling sound coming from the woods, and three of the weevils started to head towards it, shaking off the effects of the spray as they went. The fourth one however, went for Gwen, and she suddenly found herself being thrown against a tree, hitting her shoulder hard, she fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

Jack, who had been after the weevil that had just attacked Gwen, threw himself at it to stop it finishing what it had started. It clawed at him viciously as it fell to the floor taking Jack with it. Molly, had got over to where this was happening, and pulled out her gun, knowing this was now the time for something more than weevil spray. She aimed at the weevil and shot it in the head. It stopped it's attack immediately and slumped on to the floor next to Jack. Molly rushed over to Gwen.

'Gwen, are you ok?' Molly said.

'It could have been worse, I think I've dislocated my shoulder, but apart from that I'm fine. You?

I can feel a cut on my face, but I got off lightly.'

'What about Jack?'

'I couldn't bring myself to look,' said Molly sheepishly, 'but he's not moving so I don't think it's good.' Molly helped Gwen up and they went over to Jack, who was covered in blood from where the weevil had bit him in the neck, obviously severing an artery.

'He saved my life,' said Gwen, 'that could have been me.' She shuddered inadvertently. 'Right we need to cover up that dead weevil, and keep anyone who might wander over here away. With any luck Ianto and Jamie won't be long, although I hope Jack comes back before then.'

'Is it just me or was it strange how those weevils gave up like that.' asked Molly.

'Yeah, and what was that sound. There's definitely something strange going on.' said Gwen.

X

Ianto and Jamie reached the docks, and immediately spotted two weevils heading towards some dock workers. Ianto stopped the SUV as close by as he dared and he and Jamie both got out.

'Ok, so disable rather than shoot?' asked Jamie. Ianto nodded. They approached the weevils as carefully as they could, but the weevils sensed they were under threat and ran at them. Ianto and Jamie split apart taking on a weevil each. The first weevil went after Ianto lashing out as it reached him, but Ianto was too quick and moved out of it's way, he raised his weevil spray and hit it with enough to disorientate it and then sprayed it again, eventually knocking it out. Jamie had his spray knocked out of his hand by the one that followed him, as it lashed out just as Jamie raised his arm and the can went flying. Jamie went to make a grab for it, but the weevil was quick and lashed out again. Before it could reach Jamie, it was hit from behind by Ianto, causing the weevil to go off balance. This gave Jamie the time he needed to reach his spray. It wasn't needed though as the weevil ran off and disappeared down the sewer grate that it had obviously come out of. Jamie got back up and said, 'Should we go after it?'

Ianto shook his head, 'No, we don't know how many might be down there. We got this one, we should check on the others. You ok?'

'Fine, scratch on my hand, but that's it.'

'Ok let's get this one into the SUV and I'll speak to the others.' Between the two of them they restrained the weevil and got it into the boot of the SUV.

X

Gwen and Molly were sat either side of Jack, waiting for some sign of life when their comms activated. 'Jack, Gwen, Molly, are any of you there?' It was Ianto.

'We're here,' said Gwen. 'Are you on your way back?'

'Yes, we have one unconscious weevil in the boot, the other got away.'

'We have a dead one, a couple got away from us too. Weird thing was though, it was more like they were called off rather than them running away. We heard this really low sound just before they ran.'

'Well, that's something we'll have to look into when we get back. Is everyone ok?' Ianto asked, getting worried now that Gwen was answering and not Jack.

'Molly has a nasty cut to her face and I think I've dislocated my shoulder.' said Gwen.

'And Jack?' Ianto asked, his stomach sinking. There was a pause as neither of the women knew what to say, or rather didn't want to say it, and this was all Ianto needed. 'He's dead isn't he.'

'Yeah, sorry, he saved Gwen's life though.' answered Molly.

'We'll be right there.' said Ianto as he floored the accelerator on the SUV, picking up some speeding tickets of his own.

Ianto and Jamie reached the park in record time and raced over to where the others were. Jamie made sure to take his medical kit with him, and went about fixing up the women as best as he could in the field, while Ianto went and sat with Jack. Jamie handed Molly some gauze to hold to her wound, as he needed to fix Gwen's shoulder first. He gave her a large dose of painkiller before he said, 'This is still going to hurt.' Molly held out her hand for Gwen so that she could squeeze it while Jamie popped her shoulder back in. Gwen let out a small cry of pain, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected. He then turned his attention to Molly, cleaning up her cut.

Ianto sat with Jack, holding his hand in both of his as he waited for him to come back. Jack took in a large gasp of air as he woke up and sat straight up. It took a minute for him to gather his senses together and realise where he was and that Ianto was with him. When he did, he pulled Ianto into a hug. 'Are the others ok?' he asked.

'Yeah, you saved Gwen's life.'

'The weevils?'

'One's dead, the others ran away. Gwen seems to think they were called away.'

'Called away?' queried Jack.

'Something to look into, as I don't know what would do that. Come on, we need to get back to the Hub.'

Ianto and Jamie loaded the dead weevil into the SUV, and then they all climbed in and headed back to the Hub. As they drove fireworks started to light up the sky heralding the New Year. They couldn't help but think that, even though it was a different year, it would still carry the dangers and unknowns of the last year, and this cast a sober mood on the occupants of the SUV.


	39. Chapter 39

A/N. Thank you for all your reviews. :) There is a little fluffiness at the start of this chapter to make up for the lack of it in the last one. Enjoy.

Chapter 39. 

After only a few hours of sleep, the team were back in the Hub. Jamie was autopsying the dead weevil, Gwen and Molly were looking for any evidence of last nights events on the camera footage they had got from the park authorities. Ianto was in the archives researching weevil behaviour to see if there was anything he hadn't come across before, even though he highly doubted that. Mid afternoon he was rooting through one of the many file cabinets, when he became aware that he was no longer alone.

'I know you're there Jack.' he said smiling as he turned around to see Jack leaning on the doorway into the room he was in.

'I was just admiring the view.' answered Jack as he walked over to Ianto.

'Yeah, I bet. Is there something I can help you with?'

'There is actually. I was just thinking that we missed a very important tradition last night.'

Ianto looked at him quizzically, 'What was that?'

'A kiss at midnight to celebrate the New Year.'

'Shame we missed out on that.'

'We could make up for it.'

'I didn't think you were big on 21st century traditions.' Ianto bantered back.

'I like some of them.' said Jack, closing the gap between himself and Ianto. He pressed his lips against Ianto's in a soft kiss, which Ianto immediately deepened. After a while Jack moved away from Ianto's lips and started to kiss along his jaw line and down his neck.

'Jack, now is really not the time or the place.' Ianto managed to say, even though he moved his head back giving Jack better access to his neck. 'The others are still here, they might find us.'

'Wouldn't be the first time.' said Jack, his breath warm against Ianto's skin.

They were interrupted though when Gwen's voice sounded over their comms. 'Jack, where are you?'

Jack moved away from Ianto slightly and sighed. 'What is it Gwen?' he asked, ignoring her actual question. By doing this though, Gwen realised exactly where he was.

'You're in the Archives with Ianto aren't you? I'm glad I didn't decide to come down and find you. Anyway, we have some information on the weevil attacks.'

'Ok, boardroom, ten minutes.' said Jack, before switching his comms off. Turning to Ianto he said, 'We will continue this later.'

'I'll hold you to that.' said Ianto, 'I'd better go and make some drinks.' He turned and started walking out of the archives, Jack not that far behind him.

X

Ten minutes later and they were all gathered around the table in the boardroom, drinks in front of them.

'So,' started Jack. 'What have you got?'

'Well, Molly and I went through all the footage we could find, but there's nothing useful. The cameras don't show us where they came from exactly, they are only caught on camera by the woods. Thankfully though you can't make them out properly, so anyone who might have seen the footage will just think it was a group of violent people.' Gwen took a sip of her coffee before she continued. 'We managed to get a hold of the dock footage too, but that was useless, the cameras were at completely the wrong angle and didn't see anything.'

'Ok, I'm not sure how this is helpful.' said Jack.

'It's not really, Jamie had the interesting stuff,' replied Gwen.

Jack turned to Jamie, 'So the autopsy on that weevil gave you something.'

'You could say that,' answered Jamie. 'It is definitely a weevil, but it's not quite the same as the ones we usually come across.' Jamie looked around the room to see confused faces, so he continued. 'There are subtle differences in its genetic makeup. It's only something you notice with close study. There are slight differences in it's DNA, making it stronger, faster and more resistant to the weevil spray that we use.'

'I'm sorry, but I'm confused,' said Molly. 'How can it's DNA be different?'

'It's either mutated, or someone or something has been experimenting on them to change it.'

'Why?' asked Gwen.

'You're guess is as good as mine on that, but you said that last night they retreated as though they were called away. Maybe someone is using them to do their dirty work. It would be impossible to train a weevil though, without doing something to it first.'

'It's not that virus again, is it?' asked Ianto.

'No, it's not, that was the first thing I checked. I need to tranquilise the weevil we brought back alive to see if that gives us anything. The one that was shot didn't leave when the others did, and there has to be a reason for that.'

'This is getting weirder by the minute,' said Molly quietly.

'It wouldn't be Torchwood if it didn't,' replied Ianto.

'Right, so let me get this straight, something out there is doing something to the weevils, so that they can use it for their own purpose. A purpose we know nothing about, which basically means we are not much better off than we were this morning.' stated Jack.

'Pretty much. Again this is only a guess, but I would think that whatever is doing this has a really good knowledge of weevils and science.'

The ringing of a mobile phone interrupted everyone's thoughts. Molly pulled her phone out of her trouser pocket guiltily. 'Sorry, thought it was on silent.' She stood up and pressed answer moving away from the table so the others could continue talking. 'Hi, yes it is…Well, I'm in a meeting at the moment can I call you back later, or first thing tomorrow morning…uh hu…Ok look I have to talk to Jamie before I can make that decision…Just hold it for now and I'll confirm with you as soon as possible… Thank you, goodbye.' Molly hung up and turned around to find that even though she had been talking quietly the others were looking at her. Gwen looked particularly interested as Molly sat back down.

'Was that about the discussion we were having last night?' asked Jamie.

'Yeah, I need to talk to you later.' answered Molly.

'Oh come on, that was wedding related wasn't it?' asked Gwen, her eyes shining with interest. 'You've set a date haven't you? You can't leave us in suspense.'

'Gwen, I'm not trying to be purposefully secretive, but I need to know certain things are going to pan out before I start sharing them.'

'I don't know how you do can keep it all in, I couldn't.'

'We noticed' Jack muttered under his breath, making Ianto chuckle, but Gwen didn't notice.

'To be honest, I wanted to just elope. Take a day off, go get married and not worry about the stress of planning everything.' said Molly.

This statement seemed to horrify Gwen. 'What!' she said loudly. 'You would have seriously just gone off and done it on your own, no one else around.'

'I thought it was romantic.' said Jamie, coming to Molly's rescue. 'But we realised that it might upset some people, so we are just going to do something small.'

'I'm not sure I could have done that.' said Gwen. 'Then again if Rhys and I had done that, it probably would have been less stressful than the day we had. The shape shifting alien was bad enough, but the squabbling between our families was just as bad.'

'Lucky that's one thing I don't have to worry about then isn't it.' said Molly quietly. 'I'm hungry, I'll go and pick up some food,' she said standing up out of her seat suddenly.

'You don't have to do that,' said Ianto. 'I was planning on going soon.'

'No it's fine, I need the air anyway,' and she turned and walked out of the boardroom without a backwards glance.

'That was strange.' said Gwen as she watched Molly's retreating back.

'Not really,' said Jamie, 'think about what you just said.'

Gwen looked up at him and realisation hit her. She had been going on about families fighting and of course Molly wouldn't have to worry about that, she had no family. 'I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to upset her. I should go and talk to her.'

'It's ok, she'll be fine. It's just she makes out it's no big deal, but I can tell it hurts more than she'll ever say her family aren't here.' said Jamie.

'How about we get back to doing some work before Molly returns with the food.' said Jack trying to steer the conversation back on course, 'I mean we do have something important to try and resolve.'

X

Molly left the Hub and took the lift up to the exit that led to the tourist office. She walked out of the office door and started along the path, looking out over the Bay as she went. It was getting dark and there didn't seem to be anyone about. Molly wrapped her arms around herself as it was now that she realised that she had left in such a hurry, she hadn't picked up her jacket, which she regretted considering how cold the wind was. She hadn't meant to leave in a hurry, she wasn't really mad at Gwen for what she said, it was just occasionally it hit her that neither of her parents would see her getting married and that saddened her, she would even take family squabbles it if meant they would be there. As Molly made her way along the path, something up ahead caught her eye and she stopped. In the shadows a little way in front she saw something moving, it briefly turned in her direction and she caught a flash of yellow eyes. Molly put her hand over her gun and edged forward a little, it's probably just a cat, she thought to herself. As she relaxed her hand away from her gun, there was another movement up ahead and she saw coming towards her, two weevils. Molly turned and found that there was also one behind her. She very carefully took her gun out of her pocket, and with her other hand she pressed her comm and said, 'Guys, I think I have a problem.'


	40. Chapter 40

A/N. Well, i can't believe i've hit chapter 40!! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, i really do appreciate it. I also want to say thank you to the people who have put the story on alert/favourite over the last few chapters. You guys all rock!! Enjoy the next chapter, cookies for reviewers. Kat xx

Chapter 40.

The other team members were still sat around the boardroom table when Molly's voice sounded over the comms. 'Guys, I think I have a problem.' They all looked at one another before Jack answered.

'What kind of problem?'

'A weevil kind of problem,' came the reply, 'as in I am surrounded by three of them.'

Ianto immediately taped on his PDA and bought up the CCTV camera that looked out from the tourist information buildings door. Sure enough as he zoomed the cameras in, they saw the three weevils and Molly in the middle.

'Shit.' cursed Jamie and he was out of his chair within seconds. Jack and Ianto got up too. Gwen went to move as well, but Jack shouted back over his shoulder.

'Gwen, stay there, keep an eye on the footage.' The three men then went hurtling through the Hub and to the cog door.

X

Molly knew she didn't have a lot of choices, she could stand there and wait for help, which could take a few minutes, or she could try and make a run for it. Trying to shoot them would be a bad idea because she'd only manage to get one before the others attacked. Deciding that she wanted at least a fighting chance, she drew her gun and held it in the air before firing. This startled the weevils enough that Molly managed to make a break for it, dodging the one behind her as she made for the tourist information door. She knew that they were coming after her though. Thankfully she hadn't been too far from the entrance, and when she reached it Molly fumbled trying to get it open as her hands were cold. As she finally got the door open, one of the weevils had caught up and it lashed out at her. Molly flung herself through the door to avoid it. As she got in she tried to push the door shut behind her, but the weevil got its arm around to stop it from closing. Molly leaned against the door with all the strength she had, as a second weevil joined the first and it threw itself at the door trying to get it open.

X

The three men had ran through the Hub and got into the lift that would take them up to the tourist information office. It felt like an agonisingly slow climb up, especially for Jamie. Gwen's voice was heard as they ascended. 'Molly made a run for it, but the weevils have chased her.'

'Where is she now?' asked Jack.

'She's at the door to the office.'

Jamie decided to try and get through to Molly. 'Molly, are you there?'

'Yeah, but…please..hurry up….I don't think…I can hold them…much longer.' Molly's words were punctuated by gaps as she was out of breath and struggling with the door.

The lift reached it's destination and the short corridor to the secret doorway that led to the office was reached quickly. The wall moved back and they entered the room, guns drawn, just as the front door finally gave way and Molly went flying backwards into the desk behind her. The three weevils came into the office and Jack, Ianto and Jamie opened fire. They would have normally used the weevil spray to subdue them, but with lives at risk and knowing the spray had lost it's effectiveness they used guns. One of the weevils was hit in the chest and it dropped down dead, another was hit in the shoulder, but then they turned and ran, going back the way they came, in the distance a low whistling could be heard. Jack and Ianto went out after the weevils, but they lost them, presumably back down into the sewers. They both holstered their weapons and headed back.

'What the hell is going on?' said Jack, not expecting an answer, just getting the question out there because he knew it was what the others were thinking. As they re entered the tourist information door, they saw Jamie helping Molly up off the floor. Ianto went over to help, as Jack secured the door.

'You ok?' Jamie asked, his voice full of concern, and his face etched with worry.

'I think so, just landed hard. It's going to hurt in the morning.' Molly replied, giving him a small smile to reassure him.

'Let's get this weevil down into the Hub and then we can try and work out what happened.' Between them, Jack and Ianto got the weevil down into the Hub and into the medical bay, so Jamie could do an autopsy to determine if it was different like the other one. Jamie had supported Molly as she was limping slightly where she had landed on her ankle, but there was no serious damage done to her. Gwen had immediately come over to her and kept apologising for her comments, as this had caused Molly to go outside.

'Gwen, it's ok really. I'm not mad at you, I know you didn't mean anything intentionally, I'm just a bit oversensitive at times.'

The team reconvened in the boardroom. 'So', started Jack, 'what happened out there.'

'It was the strangest thing,' said Molly. 'It was like they ambushed me.'

'Ambushed you?' said Ianto. 'That would suggest it was planned, and I'm pretty sure weevils don't know how to plan.'

'There's that, and why Molly?' added Jamie.

'You said it yourself Jamie, it looks like someone has been doing something to the weevils, and I think they would have gone after which ever of us had gone out. Before the weevils appeared around me, I saw something moving in the shadows. It was a pair of yellow eyes, but I assumed it was a cat.'

'But it could have been whatever is controlling the weevils.' said Jack.

'Yeah, because they appeared straight after it saw me looking at it. As for why they attacked, they could have been looking for the one we bought back. Maybe they have the scent of it, or it can be tracked somehow.'

'I'll get to work on it, but I'm going to need someone to help me tranquilise it.' said Jamie.

'I'll help you,' offered Ianto.

'Good, you two do that, Gwen and I will go and see what we can find outside, I think the coast should be clear now.'

'I should come with you.' said Molly.

'I don't know if that's such a good idea,' answered Jack. 'If we have to make a run for it again you're not going to go anywhere very fast.'

'Ok, fine.' said Molly. 'I'll see if there's any footage been captured.'

The team split up and went about there tasks.

Jack and Gwen went up and through the tourist information office until they were following the path that Molly took a little while ago. Both had their weapons at their sides, keeping them out of sight in case anyone should walk by, but the area was quiet. They reached the spot where Molly had been when she had seen the movement in the shadows and Gwen pulled out her PDA.

'There are two different residual energy signals. One is what we usually associate with weevils, but I don't recognise the other one.' said Gwen.

'Then there was something else here. Let's see if we can follow it, it might give us an idea of where they went.'

Jack and Gwen followed the signal up onto the Plass, and towards an alley across the way from the water tower. As they walked over the signal started to get stronger, Gwen put the PDA back into her pocket and she raised her gun slightly as she went into the darkening alley, Jack raised his gun too. About halfway down the alley there was a large bin and there was something sitting on top, but all Jack and Gwen could make out at first were yellow eyes. They edged closer and saw that it was definitely alien.

'You don't need weapons, I'm unarmed.' said the alien in a calm tone, totally nonplussed by two people aiming guns at it.

'I'd feel better keeping my gun trained on you.' said Jack, and the alien just shrugged.

'It's up to you.'

'Who or should I say what are you, and what are you doing to the weevils?' asked Jack.

'What I am is not important.'

The aliens tone was really starting to get to Jack now, it was almost smug. It continued. 'Where I am from though, we use these weevils as you call them to do things for us.'

'What, like slaves?' asked Gwen.

'If you want to call it that. Landing here and finding that they were here too, was a fortunate turn of events. The weevils here though are not like the ones back home, so changes had to be made to make them stronger and more amenable to me.'

'Ok, so what you're saying is that you are trying to make the weevils here, like the ones you have back home.' Jack clarified and the alien nodded. 'What about the people that live here, they are going to get hurt.'

'The human race is not a concern of mine. Eventually they will learn to get out of the way if they don't want to get hurt. I must admit though getting your attention in the park last night was unfortunate. I thought by following you back to where you were based I might be able to get one of you alone, and show you what my pets can truly do, sadly for me that girl was lucky. Next time she won't be, neither will any of your other friends.'

'Have you heard yourself? Said Jack incredulously. 'You sound like you're going to take over the city just like that.' Jack snapped his fingers to emphasise his point. 'I can tell you now, that this is going to end, right here, right now.'

The alien just smirked at Jack. 'Go ahead shoot me, but you seem to be under the mistaken impression that I'm alone.'

This took both Jack and Gwen by surprise and they lowered their guns a little.

'There are more of you?' asked Gwen.

'Of course, I never travel alone and it was while travelling we somehow ended up here. The only reason you have seen me is because I'm curious enough to come above ground.'

'How many of you are there?' Jack was getting angry now, and it was taking a great deal of will power not to put a bullet between the aliens eyes before he got some answers.

'Now that would be telling,' it said as it got down off the bin. 'But you'll find out soon enough.'

Jack had had enough, he raised his gun and fired, but the alien had already disappeared. Jack ran over to where it had been and found an open sewer grate. Jack kicked the bin in frustration.

'That has to be one of the smuggest, most annoying aliens I have ever met!'

'What are we going to do now, Jack?

'We go back to the Hub, and see if Jamie and Ianto have any new information. Then…' Jack paused. 'We go down after that alien.

'But it went into the sewers.' said Gwen with a disgusted look on her face.

Jack took one last look at the sewer before turning on his heels and striding back purposefully to the Hub, Gwen following behind.


	41. Chapter 41

A/N. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter, as always much appreciated. Being stuck indoors yesterday means that i got this chapter written sooner than i thought i would. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 41.

Ianto and Jamie had tranquilised the weevil in the cells and got it down to the medical bay. Jamie took samples from it to compare against the two dead ones that they had. While these tests were running he ran a scanner over the weevil and it started to beep when he got to it's shoulder.

'There's something's in here, it's sending a signal out.' Jamie moved over to the two dead weevils and ran the scanner over the same spot. It beeped on the weevil that had been shot up in the tourist information office, but not on the one from the park. Jamie made a cut on the dead weevil and pulled out what looked like a small computer chip. 'I think we now know how they are being controlled.'

'The chip must be malfunctioning in the one from the park, that's why it didn't leave with the others.' said Ianto.

Jamie removed it from the weevil and it did indeed look damaged. 'I'll take the one out of the other one too, and then we can put it back in the cells.'

'Ok, I'll take this to Molly.' Ianto then climbed the stairs out of the med bay and went over to Molly who was working at her terminal.

'You ok?'

Molly looked up from her computer and smiled, 'Yeah, I'm fine. What have you got?

'Jamie found these chips in the weevils. He didn't find it before, because the one in the dead weevil from the park doesn't seem to be working.'

'Ok, let me see what I can do.' Molly hooked one of the chips up to her terminal and started to run some tests on it. As she was doing this the cog door alarm sounded and Jack came striding through it, Gwen behind. The look on Jack's face showed that things hadn't gone well.

'Please tell me you have found something.' he shouted across the Hub. On hearing Jack, Jamie came up to join the others.

'We have made one discovery that might help us.'

'Well, it better be good.' snapped Jack.

'Hey,' Ianto called back over to him. 'Whatever happened out there to put you in this mood, don't take it out on us.'

Jack took a deep, calming breath as he walked over to where the other three were standing. 'Sorry, but I've just spoken to the smuggest alien. I can't wait to shoot it.'

'Smug?' asked Molly.

Gwen nodded, 'It has delusions of grandeur. Problem is it made out that it wasn't the only one of it's kind.' She then filled the others in on what it had said.

'You want us to go down the sewers?' asked Ianto incredulously.

'It's where the alien went, and the only way to follow it, is to trace the residual energy it leaves behinds. That means following it through the sewers to wherever it comes out.' said Jack. 'I'm not exactly happy about it either.'

'So how do we stop them when we get down there?' questioned Jamie. 'We have no idea how many weevils they have control over. We might not get anywhere near these aliens, before they set the weevils on us.'

'I think I can help with that.' said Molly. 'If I can find the signal they are using to send to these chips, I can jam it. I don't know how long it will last, but I should give you long enough to destroy the equipment they are using.'

'How long will it take?'

'Hopefully not too long. The tricky part will be the distance it needs to cover. I'll have to stay here to do it though.' This was one time Molly wouldn't mind being left behind.

'Good, get working on that.'

'We don't know what will happen once we stop the weevils being controlled though. They will probably still attack us.' said Gwen.

'They might attack the aliens too though,' answered Ianto. 'They would have no reason not too.'

'What about after?' asked Jamie. 'We stop the aliens that are controlling them, but that still leaves us with stronger, faster weevils in the sewers. I can't reverse that.'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' said Jack. 'For now our priority is to stop the aliens controlling them. Get your stuff together, we leave in twenty minutes.'

Jack left and went up to his office, while Jamie and Ianto went back down to the med bay so that they could put the weevil back in it's cell, and the others into drawers. Gwen collected up a variety of different weapons and packed them up.

'Everyone ready?' asked Jack coming out of his office and back down into the main Hub. Everyone nodded. 'Molly, I need you in keep in contact with your progress on that jamming signal.'

'Sure. Good luck, and have fun down there.' said Molly with a playful smile on her lips, as they others started to move out of the Hub. Once alone she got back to work on the signal she was trying to find.

Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Jamie walked back across the Plass to the alley where the alien had disappeared down into the sewers. Jack shone a torch down the hole and then climbed down, the others following behind grimacing. They stopped at the bottom to get their bearings, all the while trying not to think about what was down there.

'My boots are going to be ruined,' moaned Gwen.

'What about my suit,' complained Ianto, 'this was one of my best.'

'Quit complaining,' said Jack. 'I'll put the dry cleaning through the expense account.'

'Forget drying cleaning, I think new clothes are in order.'

'Just try not to think about it, we have an alien to find.' Jack held up his PDA and scanned the area to pick up the energy signal. They started to move along the tunnels, going deeper into the sewer tunnels.

'Urgh!' exclaimed Gwen. 'Something just ran over my foot.'

'It was probably a rat' said Jamie.

'Gross, I'd rather see a weevil.'

'I wouldn't make statements like that,' said Ianto. 'You may get your wish.'

'This is not the stealthy approach I was hoping for.' said Jack, turning round to the rest of the team.

They walked along the tunnel for what seemed like miles, the water splashing around their feet. So far they hadn't seen anything, other than the rats. Then in the distance they heard some low growling.

'I have a feeling that they know we are here.' said Gwen.

'Maybe, or it could just be one lone weevil.' suggested Jamie.

'Does it sound like just one weevil?' asked Ianto.

'No, I was just trying to be hopeful.'

The noise sounded again, but this time they could hear it behind them as well. 'We need to move faster or else we are going to end up trapped in the tunnels and we'll be sitting ducks.' They started to move along the tunnel faster as they could hear the sounds getting closer to them all the time. Jack decided now would be a good time to see how Molly was doing with the jamming frequency.

'Molly how's that jamming signal coming?'

'I've found the frequency of the original signal and I'm working on jamming it. The only problem is I can't get it to work over a wide distance at the moment.'

'Well, no pressure, but I think we're going to need it sooner rather than later.'

'I'm working as fast as I can, I'll let you know when it's running.'

After Jack finished talking to Molly he stopped, the signal on his PDA had stopped also. 'The signals gone.'

'Great, now what.' muttered Jamie.

'It must have gone somewhere.' said Ianto, shining his torch around the tunnel. It wasn't until he pointed it up that he saw another sewer grate. 'I'm starting to think this alien has planned this all along. It's forcing us to go where it wants us to.'

Jack sighed. 'We can't stay here, we go up, but keep alert.'

'Any idea where up will be?' asked Gwen.

'Judging the direction we have travelled in, I believe it will be in the dock area.' said Ianto. 'Plenty of places there for an alien to hide.'

Jack started to climb up the ladder, he pushed the grate up and moved carefully out of the sewer. Ianto, Gwen and Jamie close behind. Ianto had been right, they were in the middle of the warehouses at the docks.

'I knew you'd follow my trail.' said a voice in the darkness that Jack recognised as the alien from the alley.

'Where are all your friends?' said Jack, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

'Around, but it's not them you need to worry about.' The alien then let out a low whistle, similar to the one they had heard before. They looked around them, and out of the shadows appeared around ten weevils.

'This is not good.' said Jamie, 'We can't take on that many.'

'Keep calm, no sudden movements.' whispered Jack. He then raised his voice again to talk to the alien. 'What do you want?'

'I want you out of the way so I can live in peace. I can't have you messing with the plans that we have in place.'

'Before you kill us, I want proof there is more than just you.'

The alien thought for a moment, and then made a signal behind him. Three other aliens with the same kind of yellow eyes came out of the shadows and stood next to it. 'Satisfied.'

'Not yet, but I will be.'

'Jack, what are you doing?' whispered Gwen.

'It's ok, I have a plan.' said Jack, not sharing any more than that. Mainly because he wasn't convinced his plan was going to work, and it was all going to be down to Molly.

The alien made another sound and the weevils started to close in on the four Torchwood team members, who were now standing in as tight a group as possible, with their weapons drawn. Jack reached up and touched his comm.

'Molly, now would be a good time to have that signal working.' As he bought his hand back down, the weevils surged forward at the group.


	42. Chapter 42

A/N. Hi everyone, sorry it's been a while between chapters, but i'm back on track now and hopefully won't take as long again. A big thank you to rosieposy for her help with this chapter. :) Enjoy. Kat x

Chapter 42. 

Molly was standing by her computer terminal, frantically typing on her keyboard. She had the signal she needed, but was having trouble getting it up to a strength that would transmit as far as she needed. 'Power, I need more power,' she said to herself. 'Great, now I'm talking to myself.' Molly knew time was of the essence as Jack had told her they would need the signal sooner rather than later. As she worked at boosting the power, Jack's voice came through her comms again.

'Molly, now would be a good time to have that signal working.' His voice was tight, and in the background she could hear the growl of weevils.

'It's nearly there.' Molly hooked up another cable to her terminal, hoping that she could boost the amount of power flowing through it. 'Please work' Molly said to herself. The display on the computer next to her showed that the power was draining at an alarming rate, hopefully she could give them enough time to destroy the control device.

X

Jack, Gwen, Ianto and Jamie, were doing what they could to take down the weevils that were attacking them, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Three had been shot, but the others had now split the group up. Jack and Gwen were being forced in the direction of the aliens, who were taking great delight in watching the proceedings. Ianto and Jamie were pushed back until they were cornered by a wall. The weevils were now in a holding pattern, as if waiting for permission to make their final move. None of the team were prepared to fire in case this caused the weevils to move prematurely.

'This is going to be so much fun,' the alien called from it's place in the alley. 'I'm going to watch you all die, and then I will be free to do what I want.'

'God, you really do like the sound of your own voice, don't you.' said Jack. 'There's not just us.'

'Oh yes, there is another isn't there. She poses no threat to us, once you're gone, she'll be on her own, easy to take out.' smirked the alien. It held up the device it was using on the weevils, it pushed a button and said 'Finish them.'

The team braced themselves for the attack, except nothing happened. The weevils looked disorientated as if they had just woken up from a long day's sleep. Molly's voice sounded over the comms.

'Is it working?'

Jack answered. 'It seems to be, the weevils have stopped doing what the aliens want.'

'Good, but it's not going to last long. I can give you two minutes tops.'

'Two minutes?' queried Jack.

'These chips weren't designed to send signals over too far a distance, that's why the alien was always around. It's taking a massive amount of power to send this signal, two minutes is all I can hold it for. You need to destroy whatever it is they are using.' Molly took a breath, she was talking fast. 'Damn, gotta go.'

'Molly is everything alright back there?'

'Fine, don't worry about me.' Molly cut off her comm.

'What is going on,' shouted the alien in frustration. It was the first time it had lost the smug tone from it's voice, it was starting to sound a little worried.

'You shouldn't have underestimated the team member that isn't here' said Jack.

The weevils seemed to be back to normal now, they were no longer doing what the alien wanted no matter how hard it tried. Three of them headed back to the sewers, all but one of the others went for the aliens. Weevils were not known for their intelligence, but these seemed to sense that these aliens had been causing them trouble. The aliens scattered, all except one which was frozen to the spot, a weevil picked it up and killed it instantly. One headed for the alien that had been taunting them, but this alien was quick and sprayed something at the weevil that knocked it out instantly. They must have a more advanced version of weevil spray Jack mused to himself. This was not the time though, he needed to get that device before the jamming signal wore off.

'I'm going for the device, cover me.' he shouted to Gwen.

Jack ran towards the alien with the device while Gwen kept her gun trained towards the weevils in case one went for Jack. Ianto and Jamie were still dealing with one of the other weevils. Jack followed the alien as it went into one of the warehouses. He carefully walked through the door and saw the alien standing a little way in the distance.

'So what now, you shoot me.' said the alien tauntingly.

'Well, I did promise.' answered Jack.

The alien just continued smirking, 'I'm not afraid of death.'

Jack was getting angry now, nothing seemed to phase this alien. 'Give me the device and I might think about letting you live.'

The alien scoffed, 'Yeah, right. You'll let me live, but it will probably be in some kind of prison, what kind of a life is that. Anyway whatever your little tech person has done, won't last forever.'

'You're right it won't.' said Jack. He raised his gun and fired at the device in the aliens hand.

'My hand' screamed the alien as it dropped the device, that was now sparking violently, and held up its hand which had a bullet hole through it. 'Fine, I don't need those weevils anyway.' The alien launched itself at Jack taking him completely by surprise. Up until now it had shown no signs of being capable of violence itself, but it had seen everything it worked for fall apart. Jack fell backwards and landed with a thud on the ground. The alien had landed on top of him and it's features had changed, it was snarling. It tried to bite him, but Jack managed to keep it away with one hand, while with the other he reached for his gun which had been dropped. He could just about feel it with his finger tips when he heard a shot and the alien slumped down on top of him. Jack heaved it off and looked over to the door to see Gwen standing there, gun raised.

'Thanks,' he said, picking up his gun and standing up.

'Anytime.' she said. 'The others have managed to disable the weevil without having to resort to killing it, but there are still two more out there, probably hunting the other two aliens.'

'Ok, lets regroup and look for them.' Jack strode out the door and back down the alley towards Ianto and Jamie. As he reached the weevil that the alien had knocked out, he saw a canister lying on the floor. He picked it up.

'What's that?' asked Gwen.

'The alien used it on that weevil,' answered Jack, 'I think it's some form of advanced weevil spray. Could come in useful.'

They walked back over to the others who were finishing off restraining the weevil they had knocked out.

'Everyone ok?' Jack asked. Ianto and Jamie nodded. 'Good, we're going to try and find the last two aliens.'

'Where do we st…' Jamie was interrupted by something that sounded like a howl. 'Never mind, I'm guessing we follow the howl.'

They ran off in the direction of the noise and found on the other side of the warehouse, the last two weevils attacking the other two aliens, who obviously didn't have anything to defend themselves with. They didn't stand a chance and were dead before the team could do anything. The two weevils turned their attention to the team. Jack stepped forward and sprayed the canister at one of the weevils taking it out instantly, the other turned and ran back in the direction it had come from, probably back to the sanctuary of the sewers.

'Great, so four of them got away.' said Gwen.

'It's ok, I'm sure we'll come across them again, and now we have this,' Jack indicated the canister in his hand. 'We have a way of sedating them. We will have to see if we can replicate it to make our spray stronger. For now though, we need to clean up here.'

'I'll call Molly, get her to bring the SUV.' said Ianto.

'I don't think that's going to do it,' said Jack. 'It will take too many trips. We have four dead aliens, three dead weevils, as well as three unconscious ones. Plus from the little I saw of the warehouse, there is all the equipment these aliens were using.'

'I could call Rhys.' interjected Gwen, inspiration hitting her. 'He can get us a large vehicle to use.'

'Good, get on that.' Jack then gave Ianto and Jamie tasks to do before getting Molly on the comms. 'Molly, you there.'

'I'm here,' she answered. 'Did you destroy the device?'

'Yeah, you gave me the time I needed to destroy it. We should be on our way back in an hour or so, after we've cleaned up. Is everything ok back there?'

Molly paused before answering, 'Well, I do have a few things to fix. I'll explain when you get back.'

Jack was a little puzzled by the last comment, but went back to work, helping the others with the clean up.

X

About two hours later they arrived back at the Hub and started unloading the aliens, weevils and equipment that they had cleaned out from the warehouse. Rhys had come through and lent them a lorry from his haulage firm, meaning they only need one trip. As they walked back into the main part of the Hub, they noticed that the lights were not fully on, and there was a burning smell in the air.

'Molly,' Jack called as they entered. Molly appeared seconds later, looking slightly dishevelled and with a bandage on her hand. 'What happened?'

'Like I said I needed a lot of power, so it needs time to reboot. Thankfully I didn't drain it completely or I would have sent the place into lockdown. The lights should be back up properly in about thirty minutes.'

'What about your hand?' asked Jamie, hurrying over to examine it.

'Oh, that. I burnt it slightly, when my computer started sending up showers of sparks. I may need a new one.' she said rather guiltily, not looking Jack in the eye. 'Sorry.'

'I think a new computer is the least I can do considering you just saved our lives. Right, we have lots of things to bring in. Ianto and Jamie, I want the two of you to deal with the dead aliens and weevils, I'll bring up the unconscious ones. Gwen and Molly start bringing the equipment in, and the rest of us will help when we can. The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish and go home.'


	43. Chapter 43

A/N. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter, as always much appreciated, and i'm now nearing the 200 mark. :) I have pushed time on a little bit now so that i can get closer to Molly and Jamie's wedding. This chapter may seem a bit like filler, but in the end my motives will become clear (at least i hope they will lol). I am introducing a little personal drama, nothing was ever going to run smoothly in the run up to this wedding now was it? I feel mean sometimes, but it's so much fun. :)

Chapter 43. 

A month had passed since the trouble with the weevil controlling aliens, and it had been busy. Thankfully nothing too serious, but the constant work had left the team tired. Added to this was the fact that Molly and Jamie's wedding was in less than a week. Molly had decided that they should do it as soon as they could. It wasn't going to going to be a big affair, but it still took a lot of organising, which she was having to do around work. Molly was just pleased that Ianto had such great organisational skills because without him, she would have been lost. Jamie had helped too, but it wasn't really his strong point. This had meant that they hadn't been spending a great deal of time together. Nothing so far was predicted to happen, but as this was Torchwood you never could tell.

Molly awoke with a start and looked at the clock on the bedside table. The illuminated green figures told her that it was 3am. She groaned and rolled onto her side, this was fourth night in a row she had woken up around this time. She kept having really vivid dreams, except once she woke up, she couldn't remember them. Reluctantly she decided to get up and make herself a drink. Molly carefully got up and padded quietly across the room, so she didn't wake Jamie, who was still sleeping soundly, and walked out of the room and along to the kitchen. She switched the kettle on and put some hot chocolate in a mug. Molly leant back on the counter and waited for the kettle to click off. Once she had her hot chocolate, she settled herself down on the couch and pulled the throw that was over the back around herself. She sipped at her drink, trying hard to remember what she had been dreaming about, not that it mattered, dreams were just that dreams. It was just getting frustrating as she really needed to sleep. Molly put her cup down and started reading a book, hoping this would settle her mind down enough to go back to sleep.

Jamie woke at 6am when his alarm went off. He noticed that Molly wasn't next to him and figured that she must have already got up, even though it was always him up first. Molly was a big fan of saying 'just ten more minutes'. Jamie got up and wandered into the kitchen to put the coffee on. As he walked into the lounge he noticed Molly asleep on the couch. She was curled up in one corner with a book balancing precariously on her chest. He removed the book carefully and then gently shook her awake.

'Molly, wake up.'

Molly blinked her eyes open and stretched herself out. The couch was not the most comfortable place to have fallen asleep. 'Morning.'

'Why are you on the couch?' asked Jamie.

'I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I made myself a drink and read a little of my book. I didn't mean to fall asleep here.'

'This keeps happening, doesn't it. The past few nights you've been restless.'

'Sorry if I've disturbed you.' said Molly as little harshly. Molly was the first to admit that she got grumpy without enough sleep.

'It's not that, I'm worried about you. Is there something you're not telling me?'

'No, I'm fine.' Molly said as she got up off the couch. 'I'm going to have a shower.'

Jamie got breakfast made, while Molly got ready. He knew something was bothering her, she wasn't sleeping well, and she was snapping constantly. He had put it down to the amount of work they had been doing, plus all the wedding planning. He also briefly wondered if it was nerves about the wedding. When Molly came back in the kitchen Jamie went to shower and dress. They were sat around the table eating bacon and egg when Jamie decided to try talking to her again.

'Do you have much on today?'

Molly looked up at him. 'Same as usual. I still have to finish that translation programme I'm working on and then I have a few last minute wedding things to work out.'

'Anything I can help with?'

'Not really, just a few things I have to do in my lunch break, if I get a lunch break,' she answered smiling. 'Anyway Ianto's going to help me.'

'Oh right.' Jamie had tried to sound indifferent to this, but didn't quite manage it. Molly chose to ignore it, knowing where that conversation would end up heading.

'Any particular reason you were asking about my plans.'

'Well, I just thought that if all was quiet we might be able to get an hour together. We haven't seen much of each other what with everything going on, and it would be nice just to sit and talk.'

'I know what you're trying to do and I appreciate it, but there's nothing to talk about, I'm fine. You know I would come to you if there was.'

'Yeah right.' muttered Jamie quietly although Molly heard him.

'I'm going to walk to work today, I need the air.' said Molly, grabbing her bag off the side and walking to fetch her coat.

'Don't be silly, you'll be late. Come with me in the car.'

'I need to clear my head. I'll see you at work.' Molly walked back down the hall and Jamie heard the door slam shut behind her. 'Nicely handled.' he said to himself. Jamie put the plates and used cutlery in the dishwasher and finished getting ready for work. He was going to have to try much harder, particularly with Molly under the stress she was currently experiencing.

X

Ianto walked up the stairs to Jack's office carrying two cups of coffee. They always had coffee in the morning before they left for work, and then another when they got in. The first hour in the morning before the others came in was one of Ianto's favourite times of the day, although if he was honest, any time when it was Jack and him alone was good. He would sit with Jack in his office and they would go through what needed to be done. When Jack had moved in they had decided to try and keep work and their personal life as separate as they could. This wasn't always possible of course, but on the whole when they were back at home, they acted like any other couple would, sometimes normality was more exciting than work.

Ianto placed Jack's mug on the desk and then settled himself in the chair opposite, taking a sip of his own drink. 'So what's on the agenda for today?'

'If the Rift decides to behave itself, we will hopefully be able to get on top of all our outstanding work. Molly has a translation programme to finish, Jamie, an autopsy on that pink alien that came through yesterday, Gwen, needs to liaise with the police over some strange sightings in Splott and I need you to archive all that stuff that came in from UNIT last week. Should be enough to keep you all busy.' Jack answered.

'And what about you?'

'I will be doing what I do best.' started Jack.

'What's that pretending to be working on that stack of paperwork, when really you're just working out how long you have to wait before coming down to the archives.' said Ianto with a cheeky glint in his eye.

'You think you know me so well.'

'I do, that's the problem.' laughed Ianto. Jack couldn't help but grin too. 'Don't forget that Molly and I need to try and go out at lunch time, we don't need long.'

'Ah yes, wedding stuff. I'd almost forgot it was so close. Gwen was always mentioning hers at every available opportunity, Molly's keeping fairly quiet.'

'I believe that's because she's trying not to jinx anything, plus she's never been big on being the centre of attention. You should see her when she does talk about it though, she's very excited.' Ianto smiled, he knew that she had been under a lot of stress lately, they all had, but when they discussed the wedding her eyes lit up.

'Let's hope this wedding goes a lot smoother than Gwen's.'

'I would say I don't think it could get worse, but that might be tempting fate.'

'That reminds me,' said Jack, 'there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about.'

'Ok?' answered Ianto warily, he had been caught out by Jack saying this before.

'You still haven't shown me what you're wearing for the big day.'

Ianto smirked, 'Well, you'll have to wait a little longer, I'm keeping it as a surprise for you.'

'Come on, surely I'm entitled to a preview.'

'No, but I will tell you this, the suit fits perfectly, even better than the grey one you like so much.'

'Teasing me is just not fair.' Jack pouted. Ianto stood and walked around to stand in front of Jack, and leaned down to kiss him. As he pulled away he whispered in Jacks ear.

'You'll see it soon enough, and I might even have plans for after the wedding.' He kissed Jack again and then moved away towards the door. Jack got up to go after him when the cog door sounded. They stood on the walkway watching who was coming in, and were surprised when they saw that Jamie was on his own.

'Morning,' he called up to them as he headed straight for the autopsy bay.

'Morning,' came the replies. Then Jack asked. 'Where's Molly?'

Jamie sighed then turned to face them. 'She's walking in, so she'll be in a bit later than usual, apparently she needed the air.' he added a little more bitter than he had meant to.

'Is everything ok?' asked Ianto. The look he received from Jamie said that it wasn't, and that Ianto was the last person Jamie was about to tell.

'Minor disagreement, you know what it's like. Everything's been busy, tempers fray.' With that he headed straight down into autopsy to carry on working on the pink alien.

'That doesn't sound good.' mused Jack.

'I'm sure it's nothing.' The alarm went off again and Gwen walked in, giving everyone a cheery hello. It was about half an hour later when Molly got in, she had her MP3 player in her ears and she strode in like she still had some pent up frustration in her. She sat straight down at her terminal and started working. When Jamie ventured up out of the autopsy bay to speak to her, the exchange was short. Ianto gave them all coffee before heading towards the archives and away from the atmosphere. He would try and find out later what was going on, but until then it was going to seem like a very long day.


	44. Chapter 44

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it was much appreciated. This chapter was originally a lot longer, but i decided to split it into two or else there was an overload of stuff. This basically sets things up and the next chapter explains it. :) There is a dream in this chapter, and it is in italics.

Useless fact of the day, this was written while listening to the Glee soundtrack. It's very motivational lol. Enjoy. Kat x.

Chapter 44.

The morning passed relatively quietly, with everyone getting on with their appointed tasks. Ianto emerged from the archives around 1pm and went over to Molly, who was staring intently up at the screen in front of her.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'Good, I've finally finished the programme I was working on, so translations should be a lot easier from now on.'

'So you have time to come out for lunch then?'

'Sure. Do you think that will be ok?'

Ianto smiled, 'No problem. If I promise that we will bring food back with us, I don't see a issue.' Ianto walked away towards Jack's office to go and tell him that they were nipping out for an hour, but wouldn't be far if they were needed. As he did, Molly stood up, put her coat on and picked up her bag. When Ianto came back down, they left through the cog door, and made their way out of the building and up onto the Plass. They went over to the Café and got themselves settled into a booth, away from the door. After they got drinks and something to eat, they started discussing the final details of the wedding. While Ianto was talking Molly's mind started to drift so that she wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying.

'Molly did you hear anything I just said?' Ianto asked, breaking Molly out of her reverie.

'What. Oh sorry, my mind was elsewhere.' Molly answered, blushing slightly.

'What is it? Something is obviously up, especially with the tension between you and Jamie.'

Molly sighed, 'I'm just tired and stressed out over the wedding.' She then went on and told Ianto what had happened the previous night and that morning with Jamie.

'Do you think it was your dream that woke you up?'

'Maybe, but I don't remember it so I'm not sure.'

'You said this has been happening for the past four days. Could they be wedding related, it is getting close.'

'Believe me, I remember all the wedding related dreams, my personal favourite being the one I had about month ago, after we had all that trouble with the weevils. I dreamt the congregation was made up of weevils.' Ianto chuckled at this, but then laughed harder when Molly added, 'wearing tuxes.'

'Weevils wearing tuxes, that would be quite a sight.'

'You can laugh, it wasn't funny at the time,' but Molly was now laughing too.

'In all seriousness though, just talk to Jamie. I don't think he'll be happy to know you've been discussing this with me, when you've been snapping at him and telling him you're fine.'

'I will. Thanks.'

'Anytime. Come on, we have things we have to get done, and then we need to get back with the food.'

X

When they returned to the Hub, Molly went down into the med bay to take lunch to Jamie as a peace offering.

'This is my way of apologising for being so miserable and taking it out on you.' she held out the sandwich she had bought with her. Jamie took it and smiled.

'Thanks. You going to tell me what was wrong now?'

Molly nodded and repeated what she had told Ianto at lunch.

'I could give you something tonight, to help you sleep. Maybe one full nights sleep is all you need.'

Molly shook her head, 'I'd rather not, you know how much I hate taking tablets. Let me see what happens tonight and we'll go from there. Anyway I have work to do.' Molly leant forward and kissed Jamie on the cheek, before walking back up to her computer.

For the first time in weeks the day passed without incident and Jack let the team go at a reasonable hour for once.

'Everyone go home,' he called from the doorway of his office. 'Make the most of it being quiet.'

Gwen was the first out, going home to surprise Rhys, Molly and Jamie followed not long after. Jack and Ianto stayed behind to close everything down and make the most of having the Hub to themselves.

X

At 10pm Molly decided she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and went to bed. As she snuggled down under the duvet, she felt less stressed than she had in a while and was hoping this would lead to an unbroken nights sleep. After a couple of hours though the dream started, more vivid than it had been before.

_The doors to the church opened and Molly looked in to see all the guests gathered in the seats. She started to walk down the aisle, Ianto by her side. She smiled as she approached Jamie standing at the end. As she walked though, she felt that something was wrong, there was a chill in the air and a sense of foreboding. As she reached the end of the aisle she heard a voice in the shadows. 'You have to help us. You have to stop them.' Molly turned to see the source of the voice, but there was nothing. As she looked back round four figures stepped out from a door on the other side of the church, they were all women and they were armed. Molly tried to shout out a warning, but nothing came out and the women started firing, hitting everyone with a deadly accuracy. _

It was at this point that Molly woke up with a shout and started sobbing. Jamie had woken just a few minutes earlier, aware that Molly was restless in her sleep. When she woke up he reached out towards her, slightly afraid at the way she had woken up shouting so suddenly. She was now crying, her head buried in her knees, as if she wasn't aware that she was safe. Jamie edged towards her, whispering soothing sounds and then pulled her into his arms.

'It's ok, Molly, what ever it was, it was just a dream, you're ok, you're safe.' he whispered as he rubbed his hand in circles on her back. Molly seemed to calm down slightly at this and wrapped her arms around Jamie and buried her head in his shoulder, trying to calm herself down. Unlike the previous nights, this dream she remembered. Jamie kept up whispering to her and holding her, until she calmed down enough for him to pull away a bit.

'I'm going to go and get you a drink, is that ok?' he asked. Molly nodded and let go of the hold that she had on him. Jamie hurried out of the bedroom and to the kitchen to go and get her a glass of water. When he returned to the bedroom, he found Molly with her head buried in her knees again. He climbed back into bed and pulled her against him, before handing her the drink, which she sipped carefully. When she had finished she placed it on the bedside table and huddled back into Jamie.

'You want to tell me, what happened?' he asked carefully. 'I take it you remember that dream?'

'I can't,' Molly whispered. 'It..It..was too horrible.' She took a deep breath to stifle the tears that were threatening to fall.

'I get that, but it wasn't real, nothing is going to happen to you.'

'But it felt real. It was like I was there and it was really happening and you… you were…' Molly trailed off she couldn't say it.

'I was what?'

Molly turned slightly to look at Jamie, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. 'Dead, you were dead, everyone was.' The tears started to fall again as the scene that she had seen in her dream came back to her. She told him about what she had heard and the four women.

'Hey it's ok, it's ok. We'll figure this out.' They stayed how they were until eventually Molly fell asleep again. Jamie lay back down, making sure to keep hold of her. He lay awake for a while longer, trying to process what had happened. It was usual to have nightmares when under stress, but Molly's seemed extreme and he had to wonder if there was more to it. Before long Jamie succumbed to sleep to.

X

The next morning Molly and Jamie were in early, neither having got much more sleep. Molly hadn't had another dream, but she was still haunted by the one she could remember. Once in the Hub, Molly went and sat at her terminal, the shadows under her eyes evidence of the lack of sleep from the night before. Jamie gave her a hug before heading up to Jack's office where he was sat with Ianto.

'You two are in early, everything ok?' asked Jack.

'No it's not. I think something is going on with Molly.'

'Is this to do with her dreams?' Ianto said looking a little worried.

'Yeah, she woke up crying last night and scared, really scared. I want to know if there's something that could be influencing what she's seeing?'

'There are lots of things that can manipulate dreams, but I'd need more information before I could hazard a guess at what it might be. Are you sure it's not just stress?' Jack answered.

'It's more than that, she dreamt last night that everyone was killed at the wedding. That's more than usual wedding stress.'

'What!' exclaimed Ianto, 'No wonder she woke up scared.'

'Tell me about it, it took me ages to calm her down. She also said someone spoke to her.'

'Ok, we need to hear what Molly saw and then maybe we can get an idea if there's something else behind it. Do you think she'll be willing to go through it.'

Jamie ran his hand through his hair before he replied, 'Probably, just go easy on her.'

'We'll get together around the sofa downstairs, more comfortable than the boardroom, five minutes.'

Jamie nodded and then went downstairs, Ianto not far behind. 'You ok?' Ianto asked Jamie.

'I will be, when Molly is.' he answered looking over to where she was sitting.

'We'll get to the bottom of this.' Ianto said and he patted Jamie's arm reassuringly.

Five minutes later they were gathered around the sofa, Molly and Jamie sat on it, with Molly holding onto Jamie's hand. Jack and Ianto had pulled chairs up. They had decided to get this part over with and fill Gwen in if they thought it was something they needed to be dealing with.

'Do you really think something could be messing with my head?' Molly asked.

'It's possible,' replied Jack. 'There are some aliens that do it for kicks, and some that do it to try and manipulate you into doing something for them.'

'Why me?'

'That I can't answer, at least not at the moment. Start at the beginning, take your time.'

Molly took a deep breath and recounted her dream for a second time, it was no easier than the first, but she managed to keep her composure.

'The voice definitely said "you have to help me. You have to stop them." said Jack.

'Yeah, but I couldn't see who said it.'

'Ok, what about the figures with the guns, can you describe them.'

'Erm..' Molly thought hard, 'They were women, all of them.' The others looked a surprised by this.

'What are they wearing?' asked Jack.

Molly thought again, she hadn't really thought about these women in detail before now, having been more focused on what they did. Molly was having to try and freeze the image of these women in her mind, before they started shooting. 'It seems like they are wearing some kind of jumpsuit, burgundy. Now I think about it, they look like something out of a sci fi movie.' Molly looked up at Jack and could see that he had paled slightly at this description. 'What is it?'

'You recognise that description, don't you.' said Ianto.

'Yeah, I do, and it's not good.' replied Jack.


	45. Chapter 45

A/N. Two chapters in two days, i don't know what's got into me lol. It's not a long chapter, but there's some explanations in it. Enjoy. Kat. xx

Chapter 45. 

'When you say not good, how bad are we talking?' asked Jamie.

'We're talking very bad,' said Jack running a hand through his hair.

'Who are they?'

'They are part of an organisation of intergalactic assassins. Highly trained and lethal. They're nicknamed the Sirens, because they're all women, and meeting them generally ends in death.'

'Great,' Molly said sarcastically.

'I take it you've had dealings with them before?' asked Ianto.

'Let's just say that I was not always the fine upstanding citizen I am now,' answered Jack.

'Not sure I'd describe you as that now,' smirked Ianto.

'Really, wait till later and I'll show…'

'Ok back to the matter in hand.' said Jamie cutting off Jack's comment.

'Yes the Sirens. Thing is as far as I know they have no psychic abilities, so it's not them influencing you're dream.'

'Plus highly trained assassins are not exactly going to let you know they are coming,' commented Ianto.

Then something inside Molly clicked like a light bulb being turned on. 'The voice. The voice in my dream said "You have to help me". It's got to be whoever they are after that's getting to my dreams, their asking for help.'

'If that's true, then we need to find out who they are.' said Jamie.

'So that narrows it down to a city full of people,' muttered Ianto.

'The voice sounded female,' Molly interjected trying to sound helpful.

'I doubt it's someone from Earth. No one from here would know about the Sirens, far too advanced. Whoever it is must have escaped from them using the Rift, ended up on Earth.'

'We haven't had any significant Rift activity in days though,' said Jamie.

'Sirens could travel through the Rift and then back again without us ever knowing. Extremely sneaky. When did you're dreams start?' asked Jack.

'It's been five nights, although I don't remember the first four.' said Molly.

'Go back and look at any Rift activity for five days ago, and we'll see what we can match up. We'll have to give the police a description of them, the last thing we want is them engaging them.'

'How do we know the person in Molly's dream isn't as bad as those after them?' commented Jamie.

'We don't,' answered Jack, 'People send others to kill for them for a whole host of reasons, money, power, revenge. That isn't our concern though, we just need to find them and send them on their way.'

At this point the alarm on the door sounded and Gwen walked in. She looked at them all gathered around the couch and said. 'Did I miss something?'

'I'll fill you in,' said Ianto getting up and moving over to her. He could use Gwen's help with liaising with the police.

Molly went to her computer and bought up the logs for five days previous. 'Here it is, Gwen and I went out and picked up a device that had fallen through the Rift and landed in the grounds of the castle. We determined that it wasn't dangerous, so I put it on my to do list.'

'I remember you showing me something, let me see it again.' said Jack.

Molly reached behind her desk to a table that had various gadgets on it that she had yet to process and research. She handed Jack what looked like a small square brown box. It had buttons on one side and what looked like a key hole on the front. Jack took it and looked at it carefully, his brow creasing in concentration.

'This is used for travelling. I should have realised, but I didn't really take any notice of it before.'

'Time travelling?' enquired Molly.

'No, travel between planets. It's more like a teleport. On planets more advanced than this one, they use them to travel to other nearby planets just as we would get on a plane to fly abroad. I can think of a few systems that use this kind of technology, but it's not supposed to be used for travelling to somewhere as far as Earth. Who ever this belongs to must have got caught up in the Rift.'

'And got separated from this when they landed.' finished Molly.

'Seems like it.' He turned the box over and over in his hands.

'So in theory, if we got this back to it's owner, they could use it to travel back through the Rift and away from here.'

'In theory, it depends how well it's still working, and without the key, we'll never know.'

'I'll see if I can get any residual energy off it, gives us something to trace.'

Jack left her to it and headed back up to his office. He hadn't been sat down long when Ianto entered, two mugs of coffee in hand.

'I've given some to the others too, I have a feeling it's going to be the only thing keeping Molly awake by the end of the day.' He passed Jack's mug over to him, their fingers brushing slightly.

'So,' started Ianto. 'Are you going to tell me why these assassins were after you?'

Jack grinned, 'Let's just say I took advantage of the wrong person and they weren't happy to say the least.'

'How did you get away from them?'

'By using charm and cunning,' answered Jack. Ianto just raised an eyebrow at him. 'Come on, I have to keep some mystery, and you know you love it when I'm all mysterious.' Jack leaned over the desk, towards Ianto, but was interrupted by Gwen's voice calling up to the office.

'Jack.'

Jack sighed getting up from his desk and walking out of the office, Ianto by his side. 'What is it Gwen?'

'I've had some reports coming in of two women matching the description of those in Molly's dream. They were spotted by the car park on Greyfriars Road. Police are directing people and traffic away from the area.'

'That's not far from the castle where we found that device,' said Molly.

'Right, everybody to the SUV. Make sure you have your weapons fully loaded. Take no unnecessary risks, as you should be in no doubt, if they feel threatened they will kill you without even blinking.'

'There's a comforting thought,' mumbled Jamie. 'You going to be ok.' He asked Molly.

'Yeah, I want to get out there and do something. See what we can find out.' Molly answered.

The team gathered up their weapons, and went down to the car park. They climbed in the SUV and sped off.


	46. Chapter 46

A/N. Thank you to everyone for the reviews for the last chapter. I hope the next chapter is ok, i don't think it's one of my best, but it does what i wanted it too. Any questions or problems with it then let me know. My concentration has been a bit off recently because a member of my family has been in hospital, so writing has taken a bit of a back seat. Everything seems to be ok now though, so hopefully as i'm not worrying so much, i can focus my energies on the story again. I'll stop boring you all now and get on with the chapter. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 46. 

It didn't take the team long to reach the multi story car park on Greyfriars Road, Jack seemed to be setting a personal best at breaking the speed limit. Gwen, Jamie and Molly were sat in the back holding on to the seats in front. They stopped by the police tape that was cordoning off the area to the public. Jack got out of the SUV and went over to the uniformed officer that was standing guard.

'What's happening?' he asked.

'The two female suspects were spotted going into the car park by the south entrance by an officer on foot patrol. He called it in and we responded to cordon off the area while we waited for you.'

'No one has tried to go near them?'

'No one has even gone in the car park. We had instructions not to intervene.'

Jack nodded to the officer who walked away, then Jack turned back to the others. 'Well, for once they listened to us, no one has gone in.'

'So what's the plan?' asked Gwen.

'I want you and Ianto to take the north entrance, start at the bottom and work your way up. Jamie and I will take the south entrance, but we'll start at the top and work our way down that way we should meet somewhere in the middle. If you see anything call us immediately. Molly I want you to stay down here and see if you can track any kind of Rift energy.'

'Ok,' said Molly and headed back to the SUV to set her equipment up.

'Everyone be careful, and stay alert. If we can I want to try and take these women down without bloodshed, see if we can get anything out of them, but…'

'No unnecessary risks,' finished Ianto. 'You have mentioned that a few times.'

'I know, but at least I got my point across.' Jack kissed Ianto quickly then said, 'Right lets go.'

The team split up, Jack and Jamie going around to the south entrance, while Gwen and Ianto went into the north entrance which was nearest to them.

Gwen and Ianto walked carefully through the ground level of the car park, keeping their weapons out in front of them and looking around for any sign of movement. Jack and Jamie had climbed to the top level and were doing the same along the open topped highest level. They then repeated this, Jack and Jamie working their way down as the others worked their way up.

Molly was searching for evidence of Rift activity, when a muffled sound coming from the street on the left side of the building caught her attention. She shook her head, thinking it was probably a cat looking through the bins. Then she heard it again and as she looked she saw a human sized shadow. She took her gun out from the waistband of her trousers and edged towards the street. The police had the area cordoned off and no one should have been able to get through. _'Maybe it's a policeman', _she thought to herself. Molly walked to the edge of the street and peered around the corner of the car park wall in time to see the someone ducking down behind a bin, from what she could tell it didn't look like one of the sirens. She pressed the comms unit on her ear and said, 'There's someone in the street on the left side of the car park, I'm going to check it out.'

'Be careful, and let me know immediately if it's one of the sirens.'

'I don't think it is them, probably just someone that got caught behind the police cordon and is now hiding scared.' _Or at least I hope so. _Molly added mentally to herself. Molly walked around the corner and down the street towards the bins. When she got there she could see a woman huddled up against the bin. She was wearing a long dress and had long dark brown hair. This was definitely not one of the people she saw in her dream. Molly lowered her weapon, but kept it by her side as she bent down. 'I'm not going to hurt you.' The woman looked up at her, and Molly noticed that she had blue eyes, completely blue eyes and they looked terrified. When the woman looked at Molly there seemed to be a flicker of recognition in her eyes. Molly tried again. 'What's you're name? I know you aren't from around here, but I can help you.'

'My name is Mia.' came the softly spoken answer.

As she answered Molly froze, she recognised her voice. The voice that had spoken to her in her dream. She took a step back. 'You were in my dream.'

'Yes, and I'm sorry for that, but it was the only way I knew to show you what I needed to.'

Molly looked at her confused for a minute, so many questions were flying around her head. 'I don't understand why or how though?'

'On my home planet we often use dreams to communicate warnings to people. The problem here is that my ability is not as strong. I had to work what I needed you to see into what you were already dreaming.'

'So that's why those women were shooting at my wedding. I was already dreaming about that and then you added them in. So that's not what's going to happen?'

'I can not predict the future, but I'm sure that is not going to happen. It was the only way I knew to try and get help.'

'Why me though?'

'I saw you at the castle, after I landed here. You and the other woman picked up my transporter. You had a stronger energy, although it took me a few days before I could focus fully on it and get into your dream.'

'Finding me and talking to me would have been easier.' said Molly.

'Probably, but I've been staying hidden, ever since I realised the assassins had followed me here. I'm still confused as to where I am.'

'You're on Earth. There's a Rift through space and time that runs through this city and you've fallen through it. I have a lot of other things I want to ask but first, I need to get you out of this street to safety. The assassins are still about.'

'I managed to escape two of them, but they are still up there somewhere waiting for me to move,' she said pointing in the direction of the car park.

'My friends are in there, they can help us.'

'This should never of happened,' sighed Mia.

'Maybe not, but how about we get somewhere safer.' Molly stood up and looked around, there was no way to know where the sirens were, and they had the best vantage point in the car park. 'Jack,' Molly said activating her comms again.

'What is it? Do you see one of the sirens.'

'No, but I have found who they are looking for.'

'Really?'

'Yeah her name is Mia. We need to get back to the SUV, but I have a feeling that if the sirens are still about, they are going to make their presence known as soon as we move.'

'That's if they are still here.' answered Jack.

'How many levels have you got left to check?'

'Two. Ok, wait until we are in position and then on my signal move.'

'Ok.' said Molly, then turning to Mia said. 'When I'm given the signal we are going to make a move to our vehicle, and then we can get you somewhere safe. Try and work out what to do.'

'Nowhere is safe from them, they won't stop until I'm dead.' said Mia sadly.

'Why do they want you dead?' asked Molly curiosity getting the better of her.

'It's a long story, I will tell you when if we make it out of here.'

'When we make it out of here.' Molly said, again with more confidence than she felt.

X

After Jack had spoken to Molly he spoke to the others. 'Right we only have two levels left. We are going to position ourselves at the doorway to those levels so that when Molly and Mia make a move, we will be able to help immediately should the assassins be here and attack.'

'So we're using them as bait?' asked Jamie tersely.

'They need to move, and we need to find the sirens, this is the best way.' answered Jack.

Jack and Jamie positioned themselves at the door to level 5 while Gwen and Ianto did the same on level 4. 'Ok Molly, we're ready when you are.'

Molly held out her hand to Mia to help her stand up. 'We are going to run to the end of this street, and around the corner. You will see a big black vehicle, get behind it. Don't look back. Ready?' Mia nodded. 'Go'. As soon as Mia got up and made a break for the end of the road, shots were fired from above. The sirens had been watching, and as soon as they had Mia in their sights they were firing.

X

As soon as the first shots were fired it became clear which level the sirens were on.

'Jack, their on level four, I can see them.' said Gwen.

'We're on our way down.' answered Jack, as he and Jamie ran down the stairs to the level below where they met with Ianto and Gwen. They pushed the door open and swiftly got into position behind some cars.

'Hey,' Jack shouted, drawing the women's attention away from Molly and Mia. They immediately turned and started firing at Jack, who quickly ducked down behind a car.

'You weren't kidding about the showing no mercy thing were you.' commented Jamie. The firing stopped briefly and they peered around the edge of the cars they were behind. It was the first time they had seen the sirens properly and the sight was breathtaking. They were two very attractive women, with long blonde hair and figures any model would die for. They were also wearing the burgundy jumpsuits Molly had mentioned. They were currently walking towards where the team were crouched, firing every now and then.

'On the count of 3, I want us all to stand and fire.' Jack said, then he waited for a break in the sirens shots, '1...2...3' All at once the four of them stood up and fired in the direction of the sirens. One of them ducked to the right and behind a car. The other wasn't so lucky and was hit in the shoulder and leg by a bullet. She fell to the ground with a cry. The other one sensing she was in trouble, made a run for the ledge and jumped off. Jack and Ianto ran to the ledge and looked over, while Gwen and Jamie went to deal with the one they had injured. Jamie gave her a shot of sedative and then started work on stopping the bleeding from the bullet wounds.

As Jack and Ianto looked over the edge the second siren was nowhere to be seen. Ianto turned to Jack, 'How could she have disappeared from this high up?

'This is nothing to them. We at least got one, maybe we can use this to our advantage.'

'I doubt she's going to tell us anything.' Ianto pointed out.

'Maybe not, but the others will come looking for her, and for their target.' At this point Jack remembered about Molly. 'Molly you there?'

'Yeah,' came the slightly breathless reply. 'We're in the SUV, did you get them?'

'We got one of them, stay put we're on our way down. We need to get back to the Hub.'

They took the unconscious woman down and put her in the back of the SUV. Mia was sat with Molly, obviously feeling secure in her company. She shrank back a little when the others appeared, but Molly reassured her that everything would be fine. Jack, Jamie and Ianto did one last sweep of the perimeter before they headed back to the Hub. They were all unaware that they were being watched from across the street.


	47. Chapter 47

A/N. Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter. I hope you enjoy the new one. :)

Chapter 47. 

The SUV pulled into it's parking spot near to the Hub. Jack, Ianto and Jamie went about dealing with the unconscious assassin, taking her into the Hub and straight down to the cells. Gwen followed not far behind, with Molly and Mia bringing up the rear. As they started to descend into the main part of the Hub, Mia slowed down, the nervous look in her eyes was evident. Molly stopped too.

'It's ok, you'll be safe here. No one can get in, believe me, I wrote most of the security protocols.'

'It's not that I'm worried about. I feel guilty that I have brought this trouble down upon you.' Mia answered.

Molly smiled, 'Like I said to you earlier, this is what we do. Come on lets get inside.' Molly instinctively held out her hand and Mia took it and let Molly lead her into the Hub. As they walked Molly thought about Mia, she didn't look particularly old, maybe twenty. She didn't know what she could have done to deserve someone taking out a hit on her, but she was determined to find out. Molly felt protective towards Mia, and Mia seemed to trust her. Molly just hoped that this was a good thing, and it wouldn't come back to bite her if they found out Mia had actually done something really bad.

They walked into the main Hub area and Molly gestured for Mia to sit down on the sofa. She looked over and saw Jamie coming up from the cells, and walked over to him to wrap her arms round him in a warm embrace. Jamie smiled then pulled back slightly so that he could give Molly a kiss.

'Hey,' came Jacks voice from behind them. 'No kissing in the workplace.' Molly looked over to see him grinning.

'So you'll be leading by example then Jack?' Molly shot back, and she laughed as the grin on Jacks face turned into an expression of mock horror.

'Never' answered Jack, grabbing hold of Ianto's arm as he went to walk past, and pulled him into a kiss to illustrate his point.

'I missed something didn't I?' Ianto commented when they broke apart, and he looked around at the others stifling giggles.

'Did you get that siren sorted?' asked Molly, changing the subject.

'Yeah she'll be out for a while though.' replied Jamie.

'Do you think she'll give us anything?' asked Gwen.

'I doubt it, highly trained assassins like her would rather die than talk.' Jack said, 'but we may be able to use her. First though we need to talk to Mia and see what she knows.'

'I just have to go and get the rest of my med kit out of the SUV then I'll be with you,' said Jamie and he headed back up to the cog door.

'Gwen I want you to go through the CCTV near the car park and see if you can track the one that got away. No doubt she'll be meeting up with the other two. Ianto can help you. Molly and I will talk to Mia.' said Jack. Gwen nodded and headed off to her terminal.

Jack and Molly went over to where Mia was still sitting on the sofa. Molly sat next to her and Jack opposite. 'Mia, we need you to tell us what is going on?'

'I will try and explain the best that I can without getting into the politics of it too much, but I'm not exactly sure of everything.'

'Just start at the beginning,' encouraged Molly'

'I am from the ruling family of my planet. There has been some civil unrest over the past few years, and my father and I have been working hard to resolve it. We finally came up with a deal that everyone was happy with, but my father died before it was signed.'

At this Molly reached a hand out and squeezed Mia's arm reassuringly. 'I'm sorry.' she said.

'Thank you, but he had been ill for quite some time. He would have loved to see this deal go through though.'

'I take it that he had you help him, so that you could carry on if died.' said Jack.

'Yes, I was to carry on his work and sign the deal.'

'Which hasn't happened yet?'

'No, the problem is that I can not sign the deal until I officially take power. That can not happen until after a two week mourning period.'

'So if you die before that period is up, the deal never gets signed.' theorised Jack, and Mia nodded in agreement. 'So who would want to stop you from signing?'

'There are some among the elders that do not see the good in the change we are trying to bring about. They believe it will ruin our way of life. It is only a very small minority, but they are a strong minority. I do have one friend within their ranks though, and he let me know what they were planning, in the same way I told you,' she said looking at Molly slightly guiltily. She then continued, 'My plan was to travel to a remote part of my world and hide out there with a friend until the two weeks were up.'

'Except you ended up here instead.' supplied Molly.

'Yes, and those assassins followed me. I never thought the elders would go that far to get me out of the way, it only makes me more determined though.'

'Right then,' started Jack. 'That gives us something to work with. We need to try and send you home, but first we have to find the other three sirens. Do you think you can get your transport working again?'

'I think so.'

'Good Molly can help you. First though, I want our medic to look over you. You've been through a lot these past few days.'

'Speaking of Jamie, where is he?' asked Molly, 'he went out ages ago, and I'm sure I haven't heard him come back in.'

'Good point,' answered Jack. He got up and walked over to the med bay, looking to see if he had manage to sneak in while they were talking to Mia. When he saw no sign, he tapped his comms, 'Jamie, where are you?' Nothing, so he tried again, 'Jamie.' Silence. Jack started to get a sinking feeling. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Jamie's number, which went straight to voicemail. He strode over to where Gwen and Ianto were sitting. 'Can you pull up the car park CCTV by the SUV.'

'Sure, why?' asked Ianto as he started typing on the keyboard.

'Jamie went to get his med kit out of the car, and no one's seen him since.'

Ianto got the CCTV up of the car park. The boot of the car was open and Jamie's bag was open on the floor, it's contents spilled out like it had been dropped. 'Go back through the footage, find out what happened.' The footage on the tape was rewound, and they looked on in horror as they saw Jamie leaning in to the car, unaware that two women were closing in behind them, one of them hit him hard on the back of the head and carried him away. The three of them were watching the video footage so intently, they hadn't realised that Molly had come over to see what was happening.

'What the…' she stopped mid sentence in shock as she watched what was happening on screen. Molly then turned to run towards the door, but she was stopped as Jack got there first. 'Get out of the way.'

Jack reached out and held Molly by the shoulders, 'Molly, running out there is not going to help Jamie. For all we know one of them is still out there.'

'I don't care,' Molly practically shouted, the panic in her voice evident.

'You blindly running out there and possibly getting yourself hurt is not going to help Jamie, and he'd be mad when he comes back.'

Molly took a deep breath, 'Fine, so what are we going to do?'

'See if you can get anything from any of the cameras nearby, we need a lead on where their going. Other than that we wait, I have a feeling they will be in touch.'

'What if they've already killed him,' Molly said fighting the urge to give in to the tears forming in her eyes.

'They won't have, because we have something they want, and now they have something we want back. Their gonna want to trade.' Jack let his hands drop from Molly's shoulders now that he was sure she wasn't going to run out of the door. 'No one leaves the Hub,' he said looking at everyone in turn. Molly sighed and went over to her terminal ignoring the concerned looks everyone was giving her. Jack picks up the transporter and takes it over to Mia, 'Let's see if we can get this working again.'

Everyone gets on with their work silently, no one quite knowing what to say. The silence is interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. It's Molly's and she picks it up without looking at the display. 'Hello,' she says tersely, then realising she sounded abrupt, she softens her tone. 'Look I'm sorry, can I call you back later…Ok thanks, bye.' She snapped her phone shut and threw it on her desk.

'Who was that?' asked Gwen unable not to voice her curiosity.

'The florist,' answered Molly, 'They certainly pick their moments, but I just can't deal with anything wedding related right now. There might not even be one at this rate.

'Don't talk like that,' said Gwen, 'We'll find Jamie.'

Molly just looked at her and said, 'I just need five minutes.' She got up from her chair and headed down into the medical bay.

Ianto got up from where he was sitting and followed her, 'I'll go sit with her.' Jack nodded and then got back to Mia. Molly was sat on the autopsy table, swinging her legs and looking despondently into her hands. Ianto sat himself down next to her. 'Everything's going to be alright,' he said, hoping he sounded reassuring.

'I hope so.'

'The sirens are going to have to make a move soon, like Jack said we have something they want.'

'Waiting for them to make the first move gives them all the power though.' said Molly, something suddenly striking her as she spoke. She leapt up off the table, 'We need to make the first move.' Ianto watched as she started to hurry up the stairs and back into the main Hub. He got up quickly and followed her. Jack and Gwen looked on in confusion as they passed.

'Where are you going?' Ianto called over to Molly.

'To set about making the first move,' she replied as she hurried off down the corridor that led to the cells, Ianto, Jack and Gwen, not far behind.


	48. Chapter 48

A/N. Hi everyone. Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter, i'm nearly at 200 which is amazing. There is no action in this chapter, but i promise there will be plenty in the next one. I had to split the chapter into two or else it would have been really long and i think it's better to have the set up in this chapter and the action in the next. Also for some of this chapter Molly is playing a part to get what information she needs and i think she would be capable of doing it. I'm starting to think she'd be a good character to put undercover, but that would be for another storyline. Right, i'll shut up now. Thanks for reading Kat :)

Chapter 48.

For the second time that day Jack caught up with Molly and stopped in front of her before she could head down into the cells.

'Would you mind letting us in on your plan?'

'I'm fed up of sitting around waiting for something to happen. Like I just said to Ianto, waiting for them to make a move gives them all the power. We need to be the ones making the first move and getting them to come to us.'

'Ok, I get that, but I'm a little concerned about what you're about to do down here.'

'I'm not going to hurt her, I just want to talk to her.' Molly replied, her tone even.

'You won't get anything from her, I'll go and try,' answered Jack.

'No, I have an idea that I think will work, you have to let me do this,' Molly said her eyes pleading slightly. She then turned to Gwen, 'Could you do me a favour and look after Mia for me? Keep her working on her transport, please?'

Gwen was going to argue, but the pleading look still in Molly's eye stopped her. 'Ok, if you're sure there's nothing I can do here.' Molly shook her head, and with one last look at her Gwen turned and went back up to the Hub.

'Look Jack, I can understand why you don't want me going in there, but she can't hurt me, she's restrained.'

'Physically she can't hurt you, but there are other ways. These women are also extremely manipulative.' argued Jack.

'Jacks right Molly,' said Ianto speaking up for the first time. 'It might not be the best idea for you to go in there.'

'That's why I will leave my comm on the whole time, you'll hear everything and if you think I'm getting in too deep you can come and help me out. I could give you a signal or something.'

'What like a safe word.' said Ianto, who immediately regretted his choice of words when Jack started grinning.

'If you need a safe word you can borrow mine.'

'Too much information,' answered Molly, pulling a face at the implications of Jacks words. 'We're wasting time here arguing about this, you know I can do it. I think I proved that with the way I handled Alex when we needed information out of him, and that was just as personal.'

Jack knew he was losing the argument as he couldn't think of a comeback to that. 'Fine, you have ten minutes or else I'm coming down there, and if I think you need to come away you leave immediately.'

'Ok, thanks.' Molly moved to walk through the door and down the corridor.

X

Molly walked down towards the cells they had the blonde assassin in. She took a deep breath before she went in, and schooled her features so that she looked totally impassive. To do this she was going to have to stay completely detached from the situation. Molly stopped by the Perspex front of the cell and looked in at the woman. She was restrained by her arms and legs, every precaution had been taken. Despite the model good looks, it was obvious she could handle herself. What unnerved Molly most though was the woman's cold, unemotional eyes. Molly hoped she was good enough to pull this off, but there was nothing she wouldn't do to get Jamie back. She punched in the code to the cell door and then stepped inside. The blonde just stared at her impassively.

'You're awake,' Molly commented in the most offhand way she could manage. 'Do you need anymore painkillers for your arm?'

'I don't need anything from you,' answered the blonde in a tone that could only be described as icy, and it sent shivers down Molly's spine.

'Suit yourself,' replied Molly.

'I can see what you are trying to do. You're trying to be nice to me so that I'll answer your questions. Save yourself the effort, I'm not saying anything.'

'Think what you want, but I offered the painkiller because I don't believe anyone should be in pain no matter what they've done. Plus I'm not the one that does any questioning, I leave that to my boss,' said Molly, then almost as a throwaway comment she added, 'You quite clearly couldn't help me anyway.'

Molly met the other woman's gaze as she spoke, keeping her expression neutral. The blonde fixed her with a piercing gaze as she tried to figure out what Molly was up to.

'What do you mean I can't help you?' she asked, curiosity clearly getting the better of her.

'Other than the fact you are locked in a cell,' replied Molly sarcastically. 'I'm not sure any of you could help me. To tell you the truth I'm disappointed in the way things have turned out.'

'Disappointed.'

'Yeah. When I heard about you and the other sirens, I was totally intimidated. I had no idea how we could handle people like you, but I was also in awe. You can go anywhere, you have so many skills and such freedom. I would love that, and I thought that just maybe you could help me.' Molly paused looking wistful. 'Then I met you and I was under whelmed. It takes you four days to find Mia, then you cause a big scene which attracts our attention. This subsequently gets you shot and put in our cells. Not a good advert for you.'

'It was unfortunate that you came along, we did not expect to find trouble on such a primitive planet,' the blonde said with disdain, then her tone changed to one that was questioning, 'You have Mia here now?'

'Yeah, and no ones getting to her,' said Molly.

The blonde just looked impassively on, but she spoke again in that same icy tone. 'I still don't understand what you wanted our help for.'

'Well, actually I think we could help each other. I want to make a deal,' replied Molly.

X

Down the corridor Jack and Ianto were listening in intently. The sound quality of the conversation wasn't great, as Molly had put her comm in her pocket so that the blonde assassin didn't think she was being fed things to say.

'What's she doing?' asked Ianto slightly alarmed at the way Molly was acting.

'She's playing the siren at her own game,' replied Jack. 'She's boosting the woman's ego by saying she's in awe, then denting it be saying she was disappointed. She's got her interested enough to ask what she wants.'

'I'm not sure I like where this is going Jack. What I'm hearing, it's not Molly.'

'I know, but that's the point. She's playing a part to try and get the job done, she'll be ok.'

They then went silent as the conversation in the cell picked up again.

X

'What do you mean, "a deal", asked the blonde.

'I want to meet with whoever's in charge to discuss making a deal, it's simple really.'

The blonde smirked again, 'Ah I see. What is it, you'll ask them to leave Mia alone and you'll let me go.'

'No you never entered the equation,' Molly shot back. 'I was planning on trying to make contact as soon as I knew you were involved. What I'm offering is to hand over Mia.'

The other woman snorted with derision, 'Right, I'm supposed to believe that.'

'Believe what you want, I couldn't care less, but I am willing to hand Mia over in return for a small cut of the bounty. I need to get disappear from here and I can't do that without money.'

'Say I do believe you. Why would you just hand her over?' Again curiosity was getting the better of the blonde.

'Do you know what she's capable of? For four days she's been getting inside my head, it's making me go crazy. It's just the latest in a long line of things since I've been here. I want my life back.' Molly said with as much passion as she could.

'Then leave.'

'You think it's that easy. The only way you leave Torchwood is either dead or with your memories wiped. There are some things I don't want to forget.'

'There's nothing in it for me,' said the blonde.

'I can get you out. I can give your friends access.'

The blonde appeared to consider this. Molly continued, 'Look I understand you don't believe me, you have no reason, but I will find a way of getting in touch with your colleagues. Even if it means just going out and waiting on the Plass. It'll take longer, but ultimately I don't need you. I just thought we might be able to use each other.' Molly then turned and started to walk away. She heard the woman behind her speak.

'The belt taken from me, it conceals a communication device in the buckle.'

Molly turned and saw that the woman was just staring at the wall giving no indication she had just spoken. Molly walked out of the cell and locked the door behind her. She headed back down the corridor and as she did she could feel herself start to shake as the adrenalin wore off.

Jack and Ianto were still waiting near the entrance to the cell corridor, and they saw how visibly shaken Molly looked as she came back through to them. Ianto immediately put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She buried her head in his shoulder and tried to clam herself down. 'It's ok, Molly, you did good.' he said.

'Thanks,' came the muffled reply. Molly got herself together and pulled out of the embrace.

'Are you alright?' asked Jack.

'I'm fine. I knew what I had to do when I went in there. I knew that I had to appear as emotionless as her, but it felt awful and the look in her eye, there's nothing there. All I really wanted to do was to yell at her and make her tell me what the others might have done with Jamie, but mentioning him would have given everything away. She would have seen my weakness.' Molly shivered slightly. 'I need a shower, or at least a stiff drink.'

'Come on, let's at least get back to the main Hub.' The three of them walked back into the Hub to be met by Gwen.

'What happened?'

'Molly may have got us a way of communicating with the others.'

'Good. Mia's fixed her transport.'

'Ok, that's gonna come in useful,' replied Jack. 'Gwen can you stay with her for a bit longer then when we're done here we'll fill you both in on the plan.' He went over to where Molly and Ianto were examining the belt.

'Do you think she told you the truth about that?' asked Ianto pointing at the belt.

'I'm not sure yet,' replied Molly. 'What I do know is that she trusts me about as much as I trust her. Thing is I gave her an opportunity and I think her survival instinct will mean she will try and get me to help her escape.'

Molly turned her attention back to the belt laid out in front of her. She prised the buckle apart carefully and inside she could see what looked like a small microphone and speaker, with one button. There was also what looked like a tracking device. 'This miniature technology is amazing, you have to let me pull it apart when all this is over.' said Molly, fascinated by what she could see.

'So the blonde was telling the truth,' commented Ianto looking at the technology inside the belt buckle. 'So what now?'

'Now we get them to meet us,' said Jack. 'I think the car park where they took Jamie would be a good place. It's concealed and late enough that no one will be around. It's also close enough to the Hub, if anything goes wrong. In the cells Molly mentioned giving the others access to the Hub. I know you only said it to bait her, but I think it might be a good idea.'

'You want to split them up.'

'Yes, two of us will stay here, while the other two go out. If we can get one or two of them in here it will even up the odds, because we'll be on home territory.'

'What about Mia?' asked Molly.

'She's going to have to come out with us, but I won't let them take her.'

'Ok, I'll go and talk to Gwen and Mia,' said Molly.

When she had gone Ianto turned to Jack, 'Do you think we can pull this off?'

'I hope so,' replied Jack. 'Right, let's set this up.'


	49. Chapter 49

A/N. Hi, sorry this has taken so long. I haven't had a lot of free time recently to get this chapter written. I originally intended for the siren storyline to be over with this chapter, but i have had to split the chapter into two. The reason being this bit has been ready for a while, but i haven't had time to finish the second half. So instead of rushing it, i've decided to post this part now and the rest should be up hopefully at the end of next week. It works ok as two chapters, but i would have preferred one. Enjoy this part, as it involves the first part of the exchange. Kat x

Chapter 49.

The atmosphere in the Hub was starting to get a little tense as they prepared to contact the sirens. Molly and Gwen were prepping Mia with what was going to happen and how they needed her, but she would be protected. Jack and Ianto were coming up with a strategy.

'How do we convince them that we are willing to let them in here?' asked Ianto, 'I mean, if I were them I wouldn't believe us.'

'I plan on getting Molly to make the call, she seems to be able to convince them she's telling the truth. She needs to redo what she did down in the cells.'

'She's not going to like that.'

'I'm not going to like what?' asked Molly, who had appeared back by the computers.

'I need you to make contact with the sirens. I want you to convince them that you will give them access to the Hub in return for Jamie. Tell them whatever you need to to get them to believe you.'

'You want me to talk to them like I did down in the cells. I don't know if I can do it again.'

'You can, we'll be right here with you.'

'Fine, let's get it over with.' Molly picks up the device on the belt buckle and pushes the button that she hopes will connect her with the other sirens. After a short pause a voice is heard on the other end.

'Yes'.

'My name's Molly and I want to meet with you.' Molly decided to just jump straight in.

'And why would I want to meet with you?' came the voice on the other end, even more icy than the woman down in the cells.

'Because I have something you want.'

'Is this were you offer to trade our colleague for yours?'

'Kind of, if you meet with me and bring my colleague with you, I will give you access to this base and you can get your colleague yourself, or anyone else more interesting that might be in here.'

'Are you talking about Mia?' asked the woman.

'If that's who you would rather have.'

'You're lying, there's no way you would be willing to give me access to your base. If we went in your other friends would be lying in wait.'

This threw Molly for a moment, but she recovered quickly remembering what Jack had said about doing whatever it takes. 'No one else will be here. Five minutes before I'm due to meet you, I'll set up a false Rift alert, the others will go off after it and be none the wiser as too what's going on. I'll meet you and we can wait while you're two friends come into the base. If there's any kind of trap they will contact you and you'll kill me. I believe I'm taking far more risks than you.'

'And you're doing all this, just to get this guy back?' asked the woman.

Molly knew what she was about to say was going to be painful, but she had to make sure this woman didn't think Jamie would be her weakness. 'He means nothing to me, but just in case the others come back early when I send them out I need it to look like an exchange. I want something else entirely, but I am only willing to discuss that face to face.' A tear fell from her eye as she spoke.

'Fine I will meet you.'

'Good, the car park where you took Jamie from, 1 hour.'

'Ok, but you have to come alone and unarmed, or else I will kill you on sight.'

'Deal.' With that Molly cut the connection and slumped back in her seat, her hands covering her face.

'Well done Molly, she seems to have bought it.' said Jack.

'Yeah, but I hope Jamie wasn't listening, I can't believe I said he means nothing.'

'If he did hear, he'll understand.' said Ianto, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

'Right we have less than an hour to get this plan worked out, we need the others.'

The three of them then returned to the sofa area to discuss in detail what was going to happen. Five minutes before the meet, Jack, Ianto and Gwen were going to go out in the SUV, hiding it a little way from the Hub, before re-entering using one of the other Hub entrances. Molly would go out and meet the three sirens, letting two of them in the Hub. Unknown to them though they would only have the codes to get as far as the tunnels, they wouldn't get into the main Hub. This is where Ianto and Gwen would find them and take them down. Jack was go back round to the car park to help out Molly. Mia was to stay near Molly, but out of sight. This was the plan, whether or not it would work was another matter. It hinged on a lot of elements, some unknown.

Five minutes before Molly was due to meet the sirens, Jack, Ianto and Gwen, hurriedly left the Hub and got into the SUV speeding off. The sirens had been watching from nearby, Jamie with them. He couldn't believe what was happening. He hadn't heard the call Molly had made, but he knew there was about to be a meeting and he couldn't understand why three of the team were disappearing in the SUV at the same time. He was starting to feel uneasy, a feeling that only intensified when he saw Molly standing alone in the Hub car park. He was also slightly taken aback by the look on Molly's face. He had seen her look determined and serious before, but this was something different, there was no emotion on her face. He did briefly see something flicker across her face as she spotted him, but it was momentary. All he wanted to do was to run over and throw his arms around her. This was no possible as any sudden movements would end up with him being shot, and he also currently had his hands restrained.

'I have to admit, I didn't really think you would be here alone,' started the siren that seemed to be in charge, 'but so far you have kept your word.'

'Like I said I need your help.' Molly stepped a little closer, her hand outstretched passing over a small card. 'These codes will give you access to the Hub.'

At this Jamie's face took on an incredulous look. 'Molly, what on earth are you doing.' This outburst was rewarded by a slap across the face from the lead siren. It took everything Molly had not to wince at this.

'I told you to keep quiet,' said the siren. She then turned to the others, 'You know what to do, get in there and contact me if there's any trouble.' The other two nodded and headed to the entrance, gaining access easily, except only one went in, the second stayed by the door. This was not what Molly had been hoping for, but she would have to make it work. Jamie couldn't believe what he was seeing. When the door had closed the lead siren spoke again. 'So, talk. What do you want?'

'I want out of here,' Molly replied sticking to the lie she had told the other siren in the cell, and fixing her eyes on the other woman's, definitely not looking at Jamie. 'I need to get away from here and I figure you can help me.'

'And we get what exactly in return?'

'You get Mia. I will hand her over to you, if you help me get away from here. I need to get as far away as I can in the quickest time possible, and I also need money. I'm sure the bounty on Mia can stretch a little more.'

'That bounty is already going to be split into four.'

'I have a feeling that Mia is worth a lot to your clients, so I don't think it will be a problem. Anyway I don't want much, make the one who got caught take a cut, I mean she did put you to a lot of trouble.'

'That's true, she has always been a bit of a liability.' As she was about to speak again, the other siren walked up to her and started to whisper in her ear. While she was distracted, Molly saw Jamie mouth something at her.

'What the hell is going on?'

Molly made sure the woman wasn't looking at her and then mouthed back, 'Trust me.' The siren turned and Molly realised that her expression had changed and she looked angry.

'It looks like we have a problem,' she said, suddenly drawing out her gun and pointing it straight at Jamie, while the other siren stood behind Molly and pointed a gun at her too.

X

Jack, Ianto and Gwen had driven off and hidden the SUV not too far away. As they got out and started back towards the Hub, Ianto checked his PDA which showed the feed from the car park CCTV cameras. As they reached the invisible lift, Ianto could see the siren enter the Hub.

'Damn, only one of them is going through the Hub door.'

'That's ok, I'm going back round to the car park to back up Molly, you two need to get down to the tunnels as quick as you can.' replied Jack.

'That's ok, I know the quickest route,' said Ianto.

'Of course you do,' said Jack smiling. He then turned and started quickly towards the car park, while Ianto and Gwen descended on the lift. Once they reached the main Hub, Gwen followed Ianto down towards the archives and into the tunnels that led back up to the car park.

'This place never ceases to amaze me,' whispered Gwen. 'I don't think I'll ever know everything about this place. Without you I'd be lost down here.'

'You'd get used to it,' replied Ianto. He then stopped and motioned for Gwen to do the same. They could hear footsteps around the corner and the sound of someone trying a door and cursing when they couldn't open it. They both took out their weapons and Gwen cautiously looked around the corner.

'I'm going to double back through the tunnels and get to the other end of that corridor,' whispered Ianto. 'That way she'll be trapped. It should only take a couple of minutes, wait for my signal.' Ianto then turned and went back the way they had just come. The tunnels were like a maze to most people, but Ianto knew them better than anyone.

Gwen could see the siren, talking into something. She couldn't work out what she was saying, but she figured she must have been reporting back that she couldn't get very far. As Gwen edged a little closer to try and hear what was being said, her foot caught something on the ground and even though it was a small noise it echoed around the tunnels. The siren looked around and saw Gwen duck back round the corner. The siren took out her gun and fired in Gwen's direction.


	50. Chapter 50

A/N. Thank to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and to those of you who added the story to your favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :) I hope you enjoy the latest chapter, even if i may leave some things up to your imagination at the end. Next up after this will be the wedding and i plan for that to be fairly fluffy, i think it's needed after the last few chapters. Cookies to reviewers. Kat :)

Chapter 50.

Gwen ducked back quickly around the corner as bullets from the other woman's gun flew past her, only just missing her head. She waited until she heard a break in the shots and she cautiously peered back around the corner and fired a few shots of her own at the siren. The siren pressed herself up against one of the doorways lining the tunnel that they were in. Gwen moved back around her corner again as more shots headed her way. Gwen was steeling herself for another look around the corner when she heard a surprised sound and then a thud, which sounded very much like a body hitting the floor. She looked around the corner once more, only to move fully out this time when she saw that the siren was slumped unconscious on the floor. Gwen looked up to see Ianto standing over her stun gun in hand. He looked up at her and smiled as he put the stun gun away in his jacket and bent down to restrain the sirens hands, in case she woke up too soon.

'See it comes in handy knowing these tunnels inside out.'

'Yeah, I'm thinking I should definitely learn my way around better now.' replied Gwen.

'Come on, lets get this one down to the cells and see what's happening with the others.' Ianto said as he started to move the siren towards the door she was trying to open earlier.

'I should let Jack know, we've stopped this one.'

'Ok, but he probably won't reply.'

'That's ok, I'll just let him know this ones down and that we're ok.'

Gwen did just that and then helped Ianto move the siren down to the cells.

X

Molly could feel the press of the sirens gun against her back, but she was more worried about the one pointed at Jamie.

'You tricked us, I have been told that my colleague can only get so far into the building.'

'You didn't really expect me to give you complete access straight away,' Molly said, hoping she could buy herself some more time. Then she spotted movement at the entrance to the car park, which gave her more confidence.

'You were warned about what would happen if you tried anything and now you will pay.'

'I don't think so,' said Molly.

The siren laughed, 'There's nothing you can do, you're alone and unarmed.'

'Well, it's true, I am unarmed,' Molly paused and looked the siren straight in the eye with a determined gaze. 'But I'm not alone.' As she spoke these words, Molly looked over the sirens shoulder.

The siren followed Molly's gaze by turning her head to look at the entrance and her eyes widen when she saw Jack stood there, gun pointed straight at her.

'Hey there, is this a private party or can anyone join in,' said Jack moving closer.

The lead siren was taken aback by Jacks appearance and faltered slightly. The one stood next to Molly also turned in Jacks direction. This gave Molly the opportunity she needed. Molly thrust her elbow up into the sirens face causing her to fall off balance. Jack fired in the direction of the lead siren before she herself could do the same. Molly took the opportunity to pull Jamie down behind one of the parked cars, she saw Jack do the same as the sirens regained their composure and started firing back. Jamie and Molly crept round the back of the car so they were out of view. Molly moved to untie Jamie's hands.

'You ok? She asked him.

'I'll be better when I know what the hell is going on.' Jamie replied.

'I promise to tell you everything when we've taken these two down.'

'And how exactly are we going to do that? Jack's the only one with any weapons.'

'Stop being so negative, and follow me.' Molly said as she started edging along the wall of the car park, making sure to keep out of sight of the sirens, who were currently focused on Jack. They eventually made it over to the car where Jack was. As he bent back down he turned to Jamie and grinned. 'Nice to see you back with us.'

'I was hit over the head, I didn't have any choice in the matter,' replied Jamie indignantly.

'Yeah, being kidnapped by three pretty blondes must have been a real hardship,' said Molly teasingly.

'Great, even under fire, you find time to gang up on me.'

'Well the good news is Ianto and Gwen have taken down the one in the tunnels, we just need to stop these two. You might be needing these.' Jack handed over two stun guns that he had in his coat. 'I'll keep their fire drawn while you take them down, I don't want to kill them unless I absolutely have to.'

Molly and Jamie nodded and waited for Jack to fire again. As he did Molly went back the way they came and Jamie moved across to the cars on the other side. The lead siren though worked out what they were doing and changed direction, aiming at where Molly was, while the other one kept her fire aimed at Jack. She managed to get one lucky shot hitting Jack square in the shoulder, forcing him to duck for cover. Jack had given Jamie time to get to the siren and as she was distracted he stunned her from behind. Just like the siren in the tunnel, this one never saw it coming. Molly had got herself level with the lead siren by this point, and was waiting for the right moment. Molly was forced into a move though when she saw the siren smirk at her before turning towards where Jamie was standing, now completely exposed. Molly lunged at the siren from her place behind the car, knocking her off her feet and landing heavily on top of her. As they fell to the ground the gun the siren was holding went off, the bullet hitting the wall behind Jamie. The siren threw a powerful punch at Molly hitting her on the jaw, but Molly managed to stay on top of the siren, stun gun in hand. As she went to stun her, the siren spoke.

'You know, you are a lot like us. I'm not sure everything was an act.'

'That's where you're wrong,' said Molly. 'I'm nothing like you, I embrace my emotions, and right now I'm extremely angry.' She finished her sentence by moving off the siren and stunning her into unconsciousness. 'Owww,' Molly said as she climbed to her feet rubbing her jaw. She then saw Jack and Jamie walking over to her.

'Let me look,' said Jamie as he reached out and tenderly ran his fingers along her jaw line. 'I think you'll live, he replied as he kissed her softly on the lips.

'Yeah, except I'm going to have a huge bruise to try and cover up for my wedding pictures,' grumbled Molly under her breath.

'Good job guys,' said Jack as he joined them, his shoulder already healing. 'Let's get these two down in the cells and then we can work on sending Mia back.'

'Do you really think we can do that?'

'I'm fairly confident our plan will work,' answered Jack giving her a reassuring smile. 'Come on.'

X

Between them Jack, Jamie and Molly got the two sirens down into the Hub and into cells alongside the one Ianto and Gwen had stopped, as well the one from earlier. The first one that they had caught gave Molly an evil stare as she passed that clearly showed her displeasure at being played. Jamie caught the look, and took Molly's hand to reassure her.

'Glad you're back in one piece,' Ianto said to Jamie as they met back up in the main Hub. 'Kidnapped by three blondes, must have been torture.'

Jamie rolled his eyes, 'Why is everyone fixated on the fact I was kidnapped by three women, it wasn't my idea of fun.'

'It must have been terrible, I know I would have hated it.' replied Jack.

'Yeah right,' laughed Ianto, 'You would have hated being handcuffed by three blondes.'

'The only person I would be interested in being handcuffed by is you,' answered Jack suggestively as he moved closer to Ianto, 'In fact if you're interested…' The rest of the sentence was unheard by the others as Jack leant in close to whisper into Ianto's ear, although the blush that crept into his cheeks clearly showed Jack was suggesting something they could do later.

'Do you think they forget we're here sometimes?' mused Jamie.

'Nah,' replied Gwen, 'Jack just doesn't care who hears him, or sees him if it comes to that.' The three of them laughed breaking up the moment between the other two. 'If you're quite finished then,' continued Gwen, 'We need to get Mia home.'

'And someone will fill me in on what I've missed?' asked Jamie.

'Sure,' said Ianto, 'I'll fill you in while the others take Mia.'

X

Mia had been in Jack's office while the meeting with the sirens had taken place. Initially she was going to go with them, but it was decided that she was better off staying inside. Mia had tried to insist that she needed to be involved, but Molly was adamant that she should stay put. Mia was now with Jack, Gwen and Molly in the SUV. They stopped in a small street that was located about midway between the castle and the Greyfriars Road car park. Molly's sensors were picking up residual Rift energy, and the plan was for Mia to use this to help her boost the power of her transport to send her home. It was a risky plan and they wouldn't actually know whether or not Mia made it home ok, but her transport had her home planets coordinates in it and the Rift energy should help. It was also the only plan they had.

'I hope this works out, Mia', said Molly as they walked towards where the sensors indicated the strongest point of the energy.

'I believe it will. Thank you for everything you have done for me, all of you,' replied Mia smiling at the three people in front of her.

'You take care Mia.' said Jack warmly. Mia smiled and stepped away, pressing a combination of buttons on her transport, the light swirled and she soon disappeared.

Molly sighed, 'I'm going to miss her. Well, not the dream invading part, but I really liked her.'

'She was a good person,' said Gwen putting her arm around Molly's shoulders. 'Come on, you're getting married in two days, and we still have things to finalise.

X

When they returned to the Hub, the first thing Jamie did was give Molly another huge hug and soft kiss.

'What was the for?' asked Molly, 'Not that I'm complaining.'

'Ianto told me everything you did. Sounds like you were very convincing.'

'I did what I had to,' replied Molly blushing a little at the praise.

'You had those sirens fooled,' said Jack. 'Ever done any acting?'

'Only at school, and I only did that because I had a massive crush on John Riley.' Molly smiled at the memory.

'John Riley?' queried Gwen.

'He was gorgeous, my first big crush. He was always in all the school plays, so when I found out they were going to do Romeo and Juliet, I auditioned and got the part opposite him.'

'So you were Juliet to his Romeo.' Gwen said, and Molly nodded. 'Did it work, did you get his attention.'

'No, my massive crush suffered a big blow when I caught him kissing the guy playing Mercutio.' This caused the others to laugh. 'Can't say I blame him though, cos he was quite cute too.' finished Molly, laughing along with the others.

'Ok then' said Jack. 'I think we deserve an early finish after everything. The Rift predictor is mercifully quiet for the next few days so barring anything unforeseen we should be fine for the wedding.'

'Speaking of which, am I still ok to stay with you tomorrow night?' Molly asked Ianto.

'Sure, it will give us chance to go over any last minute things.'

Gwen, Jamie and Molly then left the Hub, heading home for some well earned rest.

Ianto then turned to face Jack. 'So I believe there was talk of handcuffs,' he said as he started walking towards Jacks office.

'Oh yeah,' replied Jack with a big grin, eagerly following close behind.


	51. Chapter 51

A/N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and those that added this to alert/favourite, i really appreciate it. This chapter is the night before/morning of the wedding. It does end just as the wedding is about to happen, but i feel it was best this way as i can dedicate the next chapter to the wedding and reception. :) The next part is half done, i'm just trying to refine some of it. It won't be up until after next weekend though as i'm off to a Supernatural convention, which i'm very excited about. Enjoy the chapter and cookies for reviewers. Kat x

Chapter 51.

Ianto watched from the comfort of the sofa while Jack retrieved his coat from the rack and set about putting it on. 'You don't have to go out Jack.'

Jack moved around to the front of the sofa. 'I know, but I figure you and Molly could do with some alone time before the big day tomorrow.

'But I feel like I'm kicking you out.'

'No you're not. I'm just going to go to the Hub to check the predictor, which will hopefully still be quiet, and also check to make sure the alerts are forwarded to either mine or Gwen's phones.'

'So it's not an excuse to get out of the way of an anxious bride to be?' answered Ianto, his lips curling into a smile.

'Well, maybe a little. She was acting a little tense when I saw her earlier. I'll be back later.'

'You better be' replied Ianto.

Jack leant forwards and pressed a soft kiss to Ianto's lips. There was a knock a the front door and Jack got up to answer it. When he opened it, he saw Molly stood there with Jamie, and an armful of bags.

'Hi, you moving back in?' Jack asked looking at all the bags.

'No, I wouldn't want to cramp your style,' replied Molly. 'Your not going out because of me are you?' she asked Jack taking in his coat.

'There's a few things I have to check on at the Hub.'

'Oh, ok then.' Molly then turned to Jamie. 'You need to go too.'

'Fine, I'm going, but I still can't believe you're so traditional.'

'I'm not usually, but I'm still not tempting fate, so we're not spending tonight together.'

'Ok, I'll see you tomorrow when you walk down the aisle.' said Jamie as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Molly then turned and walked off down the hallway with her bags to her old room, calling hello to Ianto as she did.

Jack and Jamie walked out, closing the door behind them. 'Do you need any help at the Hub? asked Jamie.

'I'm sure you have better things to do the night before your wedding than come into work with me,' replied Jack.

'Nah, I went out with a couple of my old mates last night, wanted to make sure I had a clear head tomorrow. I'd only be at home trying to avoid all the questions my mother keeps asking.'

'I thought you got on with your parents?'

'I do, but my mother is overly excited. I love her, but she's getting on my nerves slightly.'

'Ok, it shouldn't take long and I could use the company.' They took Jamie's car and drove to the Hub.

X

Molly moved her bags into her old room, noting that nothing much had changed. She took in the clothes bags hanging on the wardrobe door and the nerves started to flutter in her stomach again.

'You alright?' came a soft voice from behind her.

'Yeah, just thinking.'

'Be careful, that could be dangerous,' quipped Ianto.

'Thank you for letting me stay here tonight.'

'Sure, you know you're always welcome to stay here.'

They left the room and went to sit in the lounge. 'So what do you want to do, watch a film?' suggested Ianto.

'Anything to keep my mind off tomorrow.' said Molly.

'Everything's going to be fine,' Ianto tried to reassure her.

'Yeah, I'm sure that's what Gwen thought too,' Molly muttered under her breath, but Ianto heard.

'Your wedding is going to be nothing like Gwen's.'

'How can you be so sure? said Molly, who was starting to get a little agitated. 'Who knows what might happen.'

'Well I can guarantee you won't wake up nine months pregnant in the morning.' Ianto replied.

Molly chuckled at this and punched him lightly on the arm, but then her mood sombre slightly. 'Thing is, it's not even that aliens might ruin it. I'm more worried that Jamie won't show up, he could be running as we speak.' Molly put her head in her hands. She had been fairly calm until now, but the closer it got the more her fears came out. The biggest one being that Jamie would change his mind.

'Molly you need to take a deep breath and calm down,' said Ianto. 'This is just wedding nerves. You know that Jamie loves you and that nothing will stop him being there tomorrow to marry you.

'I'm an idiot aren't I,' said Molly lifting her head up.

'You're not an idiot, you're just nervous.'

'I need a drink.'

'Ok, but it's not going to be coffee, because I don't think caffeine would be good for you right now,' answered Ianto as he got up and headed into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. Molly had already said she didn't want alcohol as like Jamie she wanted to make sure she was clear headed.

Molly smiled at that, 'You're right it wouldn't be good for me. I'm going to have trouble sleeping as it is.'

'There are a few things I need to check with you, then we are going to go and put some films on and relax, ok?' Molly nodded so Ianto continued. 'We need to be at the church for 11.30 am right?' Again Molly nodded. 'So the cars are coming here for 11am. What time is Jess being dropped off?'

'10am. All she will have to do is put her dress on, Kate said she would sort her hair out before she dropped her off.'

With that out of the way, Ianto finished making their drinks and they went and sat down, putting on a comedy.

'Thanks again for all this,' said Molly about half way through the film. 'You always did know how to get me to relax.'

Ianto smiled, 'Likewise. Tomorrows going to be great. A nice, normal, happy wedding day.'

'With no retconning of the guests at the end.' said Molly laughing.

'Definitely not,' replied Ianto also laughing, pleased that Molly was now relaxed and not stressing out, hopefully she would stay this way tomorrow.

X

A few hours later Jack quietly re-entered the flat. He hung his coat up and walked down to the living room but found it was empty. He silently went into his and Ianto's room and found the Welshmen asleep. Jack undressed down to his boxers and gently got into bed behind Ianto, wrapping his arm around his waist. Ianto instinctively snuggled back closer into Jack. He murmured sleepily, 'You were gone longer than I thought you would be. Is everything ok?'

'Yeah, everything's fine. Rift predictors quiet, there was an email from General Andrews, but it wasn't marked urgent so it can wait another day.'

'Then what were you doing?'

'Jamie came with me, and we were talking.'

'How's he doing?'

'Nervous as you'd expect. He is a little worried Molly will change her mind.'

'Molly was worried Jamie would change his.' replied Ianto smiling, 'Their both as bad as each other.'

'How was she?' asked Jack.

'Well, apart from the one minor freak out, she was fine. She went to bed about half an hour ago, but I doubt she's actually asleep yet. I just hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow.'

'It will' answered Jack. 'No aliens allowed.'

'An alien free day sounds good to me.'

'And I finally get to see your suit.'

'Just remember you'll be in a church.'

'Hey, I can behave myself.'

Ianto chuckled, 'You better. You can misbehave as much as you want after the wedding reception.

'Is that a promise?'

'Yep,' replied Ianto turning his head to give Jack a kiss. 'Now I need to get some sleep.' It didn't take long for the two of them to drop off to sleep, content in each others arms.

X

Next morning when Jack woke he could hear movement in the kitchen. He glanced at the clock and it said 6:38am. He carefully got up, threw on a shirt and went out into the kitchen to see Molly making a cup of tea. 'What no coffee?' he remarked.

Molly turned to him and smiled. 'I have never once touched that coffee machine, and I'm not about to start now. I was going to bring some instant, but I thought Ianto might see it.'

Jack smiled at that. 'Yeah, to Ianto drinking instant is almost as bad as touching his coffee machine.' Molly laughed quietly. 'So,' Jack started again, 'You're up early.'

'Sorry if I woke you, I've been awake for ages and really needed a drink.'

'Was it nerves?'

'Surprisingly no. It was something else. Molly looked at the quizzical expression on Jacks face so she continued. 'It's silly really.'

'I bet it's not, you can tell me.'

'Well,' said Molly blushing slightly. 'I find it really hard to sleep on my own now.'

'That's not silly, I'm the same. Anyway last night was the last time you'll have too. Come on how about breakfast.'

Jack went about making breakfast while Molly finished her tea. They were soon joined with Ianto, who made coffee to go with the food. As they were eating Molly's phone rang. 'Hello…oh hey Cassie how are you…I'm good, excited and nervous in equal measure…uh hu…' Jack and Ianto started to clear up while Molly was talking. 'Thanks for letting me know Cass…Yeah god forbid he actually picks up the phone himself…ok speak soon bye.' Molly hung up her phone and put it back on the table.

'You ok?' asked Ianto.

'Fine. That was Cassie, my uncles secretary, letting me know he probably won't make the service, but will try and make the reception. Something about just getting off mission.'

'And he couldn't have rang to tell you that.' said Jack.

'No, that's not his style. Cassie has been our go between for years, Even as a teenager when I lived with him I saw Cassie more.'

'I'm sorry, I know you're not close but it would have been nice to have family there.' said Ianto.

'It's ok, as far as I'm concerned my family will be. Now I need to go and shower.' Molly gave both of them a small smile and then turned and headed for the bathroom.'

'Do you think she meant us?' asked Jack.

'I believe she did,' replied Ianto. 'I've always thought of the team as family, obviously she does too.'

The next couple of hours were a blur. Jack left to go and help Gwen with some last minute things, Ianto got ready in his room, while Molly had her hair and make up done. Jess was dropped off and was very excitable. Finally the car pulled up outside and Ianto knocked on Molly's door. 'Car's here.' Jess came out first in her lilac bridesmaid dress, which matched the lilac shirt that Ianto was wearing with his suit. Molly then stepped out wearing a long white dress with a detachable train that she held over her arm. The top of the dress was beaded and she her hair up with small matching jewels in it. 'So how do I look?'

'You look beautiful, Jamie is a lucky man.'

'So is Jack. You look rather good yourself.'

'Then we're both in for a good day.' Ianto replied.

The three of them walked down to the car and got in. Their journey didn't take too long and they were soon at the church. Everyone had gathered inside, Jamie was waiting at the front with his best man Ewan. His parents and a few other family and friends were sitting on his side. On Molly's side were Jack, Gwen, Rhys, and a few of her old friends, including Ruth who had taken her in after she had left Alex and come to Cardiff. She didn't have as many people, but those that mattered were there. Molly and Ianto stood behind the doors waiting, while Jess was behind them. Molly and Jess were holding matching bouquets that Gwen had made sure were waiting for them. Ianto held out his arm and Molly looped hers through it. 'Ready to go get married?' Molly nodded in reply. The doors opened, the music began to play and they began the walk up the aisle.


	52. Chapter 52

A/N. Hi Sorry i've been a while, but with the madness of the Supernatural convention weekend i went to and some writers block its taken time to get this chapter down. I do have some ideas for where i might go after all the wedding chapters are over. I do enjoy writing this story. :) This chapter takes place during the service (although i don't go into too much detail) and just before the reception. The reception will be the next chapter. This chapter and the next also set down a few hints as to where i might be going with the story. Anyway i'll stop talking now. Thank you to everyone who is still reading, have put this on alert/favourite and my reviewers, i love you all. Kat x.

Chapter 52.

Jamie was nervously waiting at the end of the aisle for Molly to arrive. His best man Ewan was trying to keep him calm, but Jamie was on edge as he wanted everything to go perfectly. He kept glancing over to where Jack, Gwen and Rhys were sitting, talking quietly amongst themselves. Looking at the three of them actually started to make Jamie feel a bit better because if they were there, then the chances of any kind threat being imminent were slim. Jamie was aware he was being paranoid, but working for Torchwood could do that to you. He glanced at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and saw it was time. The vicar was now stood at the front with them and as Jamie waited he heard the door at the back opening and the music start. They hadn't gone for the traditional wedding march, but a simple instrumental piece, that at that moment Jamie couldn't remember the name of. He looked over and his breathing hitched slightly at the sight before him. Molly walked down the aisle looking absolutely stunning, He was vaguely aware of Ianto by her side and Jess walking behind them as he was transfixed. As Molly reached the end of the aisle she smiled and he returned it as he held out his hand for hers, and they stood hand in hand while the vicar started the service.

Jamie was not the only one who was taken by the walk down the aisle, Jack was too. Jack thought that Molly did look beautiful, but his attention was on Ianto. Seeing Ianto in a suit was nothing new to Jack, but there was something special about this one, and how it fit so perfectly. It made Jack want to just grab Ianto on his way past and do something that would be completely inappropriate in a church. That would have to wait for later.

The service went smoothly, both Jamie and Molly saying their vows without making a mistake. They had gone for the traditional vows. Molly and Jamie were to make speeches at the reception, this was partly because they wanted to tell everyone how they felt, and also partly because Jamie was worried about what his best man might say to try and embarrass him. When the vicar said 'You may now kiss the bride,' Jamie leaned in and gave Molly a chaste kiss on the lips while the congregation applauded. They then went over to sign the wedding register with their witnesses Ianto and Ewan. The rest of the congregation made their way outside, and then formed up each side of the church path so that they could throw confetti as the bride and groom came out.

'Well, so far so good,' said Rhys turning to face Gwen and Jack, leaning in close to whisper, 'No aliens in sight, and no idiot running down the aisle yelling stop the wedding.'

'Ah come on Rhys, haven't you forgiven me for that yet? I was trying to save Gwen's life.' replied Jack.

'That maybe, but that's the worse thing you can imagine someone doing on your wedding day. At least our families don't remember.'

'One day you'll laugh about it.'

'Don't count on it,' grumbled Rhys, and Gwen couldn't help but grin at the look on his face. She took his hand and held it reassuringly.

Before anyone else could say anything Molly and Jamie were walking out of the church to be met with confetti being thrown over them. Molly smiled over at them as she walked past, the smile on her face showing how truly happy she was. Molly and Jamie walked over to have a quick word with the photographer before they headed over to the open space that was surrounded by trees and flowers to have the pictures taken. Usually Molly disliked having her picture taken, but as this was a special occasion she was making an exception, even she needed to have a wedding album to show people.

Ianto, Jess and Ewan followed out of the church just moments after the happy couple to avoid the confetti. Jess went and stood with her grandparents while Ianto headed over to Jack.

'Hi handsome,' said Jack, raising his eyebrows suggestively, as Ianto approached.

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'Jack, we're outside a church.'

'Precisely, outside not inside.'

'We're still on sacred ground though, so whatever you're thinking save it for later.'

'Fine,' answered Jack. 'You do look good though.'

Ianto smiled, 'Thanks. Anyway the reason I came over is because Molly wants a picture with us all. I know we aren't exactly big on picture taking, but it would be nice.'

'That's a great idea,' agreed Gwen. 'We could put a copy up in the Hub.'

'I'll wait here till you come back,' said Rhys.

'No, you're coming with us' said Ianto. 'Molly said to make sure you come too.'

'Really,' answered Rhys, blushing slightly in surprise. He was touched to be included, as he had assumed that she had just meant the team.

'Really, she said you're family too.'

They walked over to Molly and Jamie and after exchanging hugs and congratulations they had a picture taken of the six of them. Ianto and Jack stood next to Molly, while Gwen and Rhys stood next to Jamie. As Molly looked over back towards the church she noticed a tall figure standing just away from all the other people and she made a small gasp when she realised who it was. The others looked in the same direction at this and they too saw the figure, it was a man, tall, well built and in the distinctive uniform of UNIT, red cap and everything.

'Is that your uncle,' queried Ianto.

'Yeah, I'm surprised he actually came. I'll be back in a minute.' Molly replied and headed over to talk to her uncle.

The others tried not to stare as Molly talked to her uncle, but it was hard not too. The conversation looked tense, and they were curious to know what was being said. At one point, Molly's uncle looked over at them, straight at Jack and frowned. This made Ianto, Gwen, Jamie and Rhys turn to look at him, and he shifted uncomfortably.

'Do you know him?' asked Gwen.

'I have been around for a while and I've dealt with a lot of UNIT Generals,' started Jack. 'A few who I've got on ok with and a lot of others not as much.'

'You mean you've pissed off,' supplied Gwen .

'If you want to put it like that yeah, and Molly uncle falls into that category. It was years ago though.'

'Maybe you should have said something to Molly about the fact you've had dealings with her uncle before, especially if it didn't end well.' said Rhys.

'I didn't remember him until I just saw him. Like I said I've dealt with a lot of them over the years, I don't always remember their names, but I do remember faces.'

'Plus you've upset so many, it must be hard to keep track.' said Ianto with a straight face, while the others laughed.

'Hey that's not fair, I do try to cooperate with them.'

'Yeah, and I'm the one that has to smooth things over with them when your attempts fail.'

Molly had finished her talk with her uncle and was returning to stand with the rest of the group. 'You ok?' asked Jamie slipping his arm around her shoulder.

'I'm fine, he's not staying.'

'Really, then why was he here?'

'He wanted to say congratulations and to tell me that he wants to talk to me. I said I'd meet him the day after tomorrow. We're not going on honeymoon until next week, so i thought i might as well get it over with.'

'What does he want to talk about?' asked Ianto.

'I don't know exactly, but I can guess. Anyway, that's not for thinking about today. Come on we have a reception to go too.'

X

The reception was taking place in a hotel in town, with great views of the bay. Gwen had been there earlier in the morning to make sure that everything was set up correctly. Gwen had been happy to get involved. The room was fairly large and was currently set up with tables of four for the meal that was to start the celebrations. Later there would be a disco and more people had been invited to the evening part of the party. The room was decorated with white balloons, flowers and banners. Jack and Gwen were following a couple of Molly's old friends into the room, and on overhearing the girls conversation they realised they were talking about Ianto.

'I admit that Jamie's cute,' said one girl,' but who was the guy she walked down the aisle with because he was totally hot.'

'Definitely,' replied the other one. 'I am so getting Molly to introduce us later.'

'Not if I get there first,' the first girl answered. They both then started giggling and walked towards their table.

Gwen glanced at Jack and had to suppress the urge to grin at the way he was frowning. 'What's the matter Jack, jealous they're not talking about you?'

'No, they seem to have excellent taste in men, but there's no way their getting an introduction.'

Gwen chuckled lightly, 'This possessive side to you is so cute. You must realise that Molly would tell them they have no chance.'

'I know. It's my own fault really for going out with someone so "totally hot"' he replied mimicking the girls words, but laughing as he did. He knew he had nothing to worry about.

They sat down at their table, it was to be just the three of them as Ianto was going to be sitting on the top table with Molly. They were fine with that though as it meant they could still talk freely without worrying about what a stranger might overhear.

X

Molly and Jamie were waiting just outside the door while their guests were taking their seats. 'Are you sure you don't want to tell them now?' asked Jamie.

'Yes I'm sure, we don't know what they're going to say and I'd rather not find out right now. Look we only worked this out yesterday.'

'And you haven't said anything to anyone?'

'No'.

'Not even Ianto, you did spend the night with him last night.'

Molly laughed, 'Don't go around saying that will you. What would people think if they knew I spent the night with another man the night before my wedding. Well, two actually as Jack was there as well.'

'Funny,' said Jamie rolling his eyes. 'Didn't answer my question though?'

'No I didn't tell Ianto, and believe me it wasn't easy, I tell him everything.'

'As I'm well aware.'

It was Molly's turn to roll her eyes, 'Come on, I don't think we should have our first marital argument before the reception.'

'Ok, we can deal with everything in a few days.' replied Jamie and leant down to kiss Molly gently on the lips. 'Are you ready Mrs West.'

'Sure, although that name's going to take some getting used too.' Molly then took Jamie's hand in hers and together they walked into the room, and took their places at the top table.


	53. Chapter 53

A/N. Hi everyone, wedding reception chapter is finally here. I have decided that after this one, there is one more chapter and then an epilogue. I love writing this story, and as i said last time i do have more ideas, but i also have some ideas for a new story that i really want to write. I don't want to have two stories on the go though because knowing me i'll end up mixing up the plot lines lol. So i will bring this one to a close, with the option to add to it later. Enjoy this chapter and please review. Kat :)

Chapter 53.

Molly and Jamie entered the room and took their place at the top table. Ianto was on Molly's right and Ewan on Jamie's left. Once all the other guests were sat down, Molly stood up and cleared her throat.

'Firstly I just want to thank everyone for coming, we both really appreciate it. Before the meal arrives, Jamie and I want to say a few words about what today means to us, and it looks like I'm going first.' Molly took a deep breath before she began. 'I suppose I was kind of coasting through my life, until circumstances I won't go into here, gave me a whole new one.' As she said this Molly glanced at Ianto and Jack, knowing that they would understand what she meant. 'Through work I met Jamie. The first time was so brief I never expected to see him again, and I certainly didn't expect him to remember me, but he did. I realised that first night how much Jamie cares for those around him, and how he is willing to put himself into dangerous situations to help someone out without a thought for himself. I will be the first to admit I'm not the easiest person to get to know, I don't let people in, but Jamie persisted and I'm glad he did. He helped me lay to rest the ghosts of my past and I know that with him my future is a lot brighter.' Molly turned to Jamie before saying, 'I love you and I can't wait to build that future with you.' She the leant down to kiss him on the cheek. As Molly sat down, Jamie stood up.

'Not sure how I'm going to follow that, but I'll try. I knew when I first met Molly, even though as she said it was only brief, that I wanted to get to know her. Seeing her again that night I seized the opportunity, and although events did conspire against us, ultimately it worked in my favour when we ended up working together. We have been through a lot, but then again what couple hasn't, although some of the obstacles that have been in our way have been unusual.' Jamie could see the other Torchwood members exchanging glances and smiles with each other at this, aliens, weevils and intergalactic bounty hunters would certainly count as unusual. Jamie continued, 'I was persistent when it came to winning Molly over, because I knew how good we would be together. The only thing I was worried about, was how she would get on with Jess, and thankfully they get on really well together, especially when they gang up on me to get what they want. I also just want to say, Molly I love you and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us either.'

The guests all applauded when they had finish, some, including Gwen, even wiping tears away from their eyes.

'You're a big softy, you know,' said Rhys leaning towards Gwen and giving her a peck on the cheek.

'Maybe, but they were both really lovely speeches. No one else in this room will ever know how much they've actually been through together. How much any of us have been through together.'

Before Gwen could get even more nostalgic the starter was served. The guests all enjoyed a three course meal and the band that played to keep them entertained throughout the afternoon. Molly and Jamie kept circling amongst the guests. Molly successfully handling her two friends that had been eyeing up Ianto on the way in. They spent the afternoon glaring over at Jack, and pondering why all the good ones were already taken.

Later that evening when the music started Molly and Jamie took to the dance floor for their first dance. Molly hadn't really wanted to do this as she knew everyone would be watching and she was worried she would trip over and fall flat on her face. She wrapped her arms around Jamie's shoulders, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. When the song had finished they moved off the dance floor as others took to it. Molly walked over to the others and held her hand out to Ianto.

'Come on, you promised you would dance with me.'

'I don't remember promising you that?' he replied cheekily.

'Well, you did so get up.' Ianto took Molly's hand and got up.

'So does that mean I get to dance with the groom?' asked Jack grinning up at them.

'In your dreams, Jack.' answered Jamie. 'Plus I was going to ask Gwen to dance.'

'I'd love too.' she said. As Gwen got up to go with Jamie, Jack turned and looked at Rhys.

'Don't even think about,' came from the Welshman's mouth before Jack could even say anything, causing the others to giggle as they made their way to the dance floor.

'A guy could start to get a complex.' mumbled Jack.

The night went as smoothly as the day, after dancing with Ianto, Molly danced with Jack. After a while the party started to die down, Jess went home with her grandparents and the other guests left for their respective homes. The team were the only ones left and were now dancing with their respective partners. As the music finished they moved back over to one of the tables and sat down.

'It's been a great day Molly,' said Gwen.

'Yeah, and we don't have to do any of the cleaning up,' replied Ianto.

'It has been a wonderful day, thank you. It means a lot you were all here.'

'And no aliens,' said Jamie. 'I'd almost forgotten what a day like that could be like.'

'Normality feels strange to me now,' answered Gwen, and the others all nodded in agreement. 'But I like it every now again too.' she said leaning back into Rhys.

'Make the most of it, some of us have to go back to work tomorrow,' said Jack pointedly looking at Ianto and Gwen. 'Let's go and make the most of our normal night, someone needs to make good on a promise.' Jack winked at Ianto.

The six of them got up and said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Molly and Jamie were staying in the honeymoon suite, paid for by Jack as his present. It was a big room with a massive four poster bed in the middle. There were tea lights decorating the room, giving it a warm glow.

'This room is gorgeous,' said Molly as she sat down on the bed kicking her heels off in the process.

'Not as gorgeous as you,' replied Jamie.

Molly chuckled, 'We're married now, you can stop the flattery.'

'Never.' Jamie sat down beside Molly and gave her a kiss. 'Was today as good as you hoped?'

'More than I hoped. Everyone I love was there, and the day went without a hitch. I love you.'

'I love you too.' said Jamie as he leaned in again to kiss his wife.

X

All the other couples enjoyed the evening too. Gwen and Rhys went back to their flat and made the most of having some time to themselves as Mary was staying at her grandparents.

When Ianto and Jack got back to their place, Ianto found himself pushed up against the hallway wall as soon as the front door was shut.

'Someone's eager,' said Ianto somewhat breathlessly as Jack started to kiss his neck, while his fingers were undoing the buttons on his shirt.

'I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to do to you when I got you home.'

'And people think you have a one track mind,' replied Ianto smirking down at Jack.

'It's your own fault you know.' said Jack momentarily stopping what he was doing to look Ianto in the eye.

'How did you work that out?'

'You're so damn irresistible,' answered Jack before continuing where he had left off. No more words were said after that.


	54. Chapter 54

A/N. Well, this is it, the last chapter of New Beginnings. I was going to do an epilouge, but i've combined it into this chapter so part way down there is a jump in time. This chapter ties up a few things that were hinted at in the wedding chapters and then, as i said goes a little into the future. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read this story, to those who have reviewed, alerted and favourited, i appreicate it a lot. The end is pretty fluffy, so i hope you all enjoy it. Please review. Kat xx

Chapter 54. 

'Tell me again why we're doing all the heavy lifting?' said Gwen as she helped Ianto drag the unconscious weevils down into the cells.

'Because this is like tidying up and since when have you ever seen Jack tidy anything up. He likes to go in get a job done and leave the cleaning for someone that's not him,' replied Ianto. They got the weevil into the cells and headed back up to the main Hub. Jamie was down in the autopsy bay dissecting a dead alien that had fallen through the Rift and washed up on the beach earlier that morning.

'Get them in the cells ok?' asked Jack, as Gwen and Ianto appeared from the direction of the cells.

'Yeah, no thanks to you,' grumbled Gwen.

Ianto headed off into the kitchen to make them all a drink when the cog door rolled back and Molly stormed in throwing her bag down on her desk before sitting down in her chair with a huge sigh. She had been out for the past few hours to meet with her uncle and the others sensed that this hadn't gone particularly well. Jamie ventured up from where he had been working and stood near his wife.

'I take it things didn't go well.'

Molly rolled her eyes, 'That's a understatement. I mean I don't see him in years and then he starts trying to tell me how to run my life. He's damn lucky we were in a public place as I might of shot him.' Molly stood back up. 'Sorry he just makes me mad, although I doubt I'm going to see him again.'

'Was it really that big of an argument?' asked Gwen.

'Yeah, the problem is we're as stubborn as each other, and him being the big UNIT General thinks that he is always right, which he isn't. He doesn't like it when I tell him what I think.'

Ianto had come back up from the kitchen while Molly had been talking and handed out drinks to everyone. As he did he said, 'Ah yes, I bet he's used to everyone asking how high when he tells them to jump.'

Molly smiled, 'Sounds about right.'

'So what exactly was his problem?' asked Jamie.

'Mainly the fact I worked for Torchwood. He was all, it's dangerous, you're going to get yourself killed, do you really think you're parents would want you doing this.'

'He didn't.' gasped Gwen.

'Yeah, I just told him my parents would want me to be happy.'

'This is why I don't like most UNIT Generals, they think they're so much better than everyone else.' said Jack.

'Well, you should have heard what he said about you, he must have ranted for twenty minutes about you. Seriously I don't know what you did to piss him off so much.'

'It was a long time ago, I'm surprised he even remembers,' said Jack, although the smirk on his face showed he was not at all sorry for what ever it was he did.

'He definitely does, most of what he said boiled down to you would get me killed, and you probably only hired me so that you could sleep with me.'

'Hey, now that I resent, my intentions towards you have always been completely above board.'

''Yeah, that's what I told him, not sure he believed me, but still. He then quizzed me on Jamie, which seemed to be one thing he didn't complain about. He did bring up Alex though, couldn't quite believe he was now in solitary back at base. Always thought he was "such a nice boy". Personally I think he's just embarrassed he was so taken in by him.'

'He wasn't the only one though was he.'

'No, anyway can we talk about something else. Anything showing up on the Rift predictor?'

'No not until tomorrow morning, although the weevils seem lively today, we've already been out twice already.' replied Gwen.

'Ok, I'm going to get to working on getting the kinks out the encryption programme I wrote.' Molly went to walk over to her desk again, but stopped with a slightly pained look on her face.

'Molly?' asked Jamie concerned.

'It's ok, just feeling nauseous, see my uncle stressed me out.'

Jamie closed the gap between them and gently rubbed her stomach, 'It'll be ok, I'll get you something for it.'

Gwen had been watching the interaction between the two and there was something that for a moment she couldn't quite put her finger on. Then she gasped as she realised what it was, Jamie's protective stance and the way he was gently looking after Molly. She all but squealed, 'Oh my god!' Then pulled Molly into a big hug, leaving the others looking at her like she had gone mad. When she pulled away she said, 'When were you going to tell us?'

'Tell you what,' replied Molly, although she knew Gwen had already worked it out.

'You're pregnant.' Molly couldn't see them, but she heard Jack and Ianto's intake of breath at the revelation.

'How do you know I haven't just eaten something funny.'

'Come on, I've been through it, the look on your face when you said you felt nauseous, the protective way Jamie was with you. I should have seen it before.

'Is it true?' asked Ianto.

Molly nodded, 'Jamie wanted to announce it at the wedding, but I wanted to keep it to ourselves until after, I was planning on telling you, but Gwen's too perceptive.'

'How long have you known?'

'The night before the wedding, which is why I never told you straight away. I'd been feeling off for a while, but with everything going on with the sirens and the wedding I didn't say anything. I'm about six weeks gone.'

'Congratulations,' said Ianto and he hugged Molly, before shaking Jamie's hand. Jack did the same. When they have finished Gwen took Molly's hand and pulled her away from the men.

'Come on, we have much to talk about.'

'You thought Gwen was bad when it came to weddings, I can only imagine what she's like when it comes to baby talk.' said Jack, 'I don't envy Molly right now.'

The Rift alarm then decided to interrupt the moment and Ianto sat down at the nearest terminal and pulled up the details. 'Something's about to come through just outside Penarth. Looks like an small object though, about the size of a brick.'

'Ok, lets leave the girls here to co ordinate and we'll go and pick it up.' The men then left the Hub and headed to the SUV.

X

**Three years later. **

'Jack, you have to let me get to the wardrobe.'

'Why, I think you look fine dressed as you are.'

'I'm wearing a towel.'

'I still don't see the problem,' said Jack grinning as his eyes took in the sight before him. Ianto had just got out of the shower and walked into their bedroom, a towel slung around his waist and his hair still damp.

'Because Molly and Jamie will be here in about five minutes so that we can baby-sit, and I am not doing that in a towel.' Jack still refused to move. Ianto sighed, 'Sometimes I think you're a bigger child than Sam and he's not three yet.'

'Yeah, but you love me.'

'For my sins. If you don't move out of the way in the next minute though, no sex for a week.'

Jack expression took on a horrified look, 'You wouldn't?'

'Wouldn't I?' Ianto replied raising an eyebrow. Jack hurriedly moved out of the way knowing that Ianto wouldn't joke about something like that. He had once threatened to switch Jack to decaf when he wouldn't get on with his paperwork, and Jack had thought he was kidding. He learnt the hard way that Ianto wasn't joking, and there was no way he was going to test him on this.

There was a knock at the door and Jack went to answer, while Ianto got dressed. When Sam had been born Molly had asked both Jack and Ianto to be his godfathers, which they had been honoured to accept. They looked after him on occasion, so that Molly and Jamie could have a night out on their own. It was another way that they were trying to get some normality into the craziness of Torchwood. One of the other big changes was that there were two others now working with them. Not long after Molly had announced her pregnancy, Gwen discovered she was too. The three men would all agree that sometimes working with two hormonal pregnant women was worse than any alien you could name. It also became apparent that they would need more staff to cover them when they were on leave, so Katie and Bobby were hired. This also meant that it was possible for people to have some time off. Gwen was currently having a weekend away with Rhys, Mary and Grace. Katie and Bobby were manning the Hub, so that Jack and Ianto could look after Sam.

Jack opened the door and was immediately met with a small boy reaching up to him shouting 'Uncle Jack!'

'How ya doing kiddo,' he said as he picked Sam up and ruffled his hair.

'Where Uncle Ianto?'

'He'll be here in a minute.' Jack stepped away from the door and let Molly and Jamie in. 'Hey.'

'Hi Jack, thanks for this.'

'No problem you know we love having him over.' As they walked down the hallway Ianto came out of the bedroom and said his hellos to them, ruffling Sam's hair just as Jack had. 'What do you want to do Sam?'

'I want Uncle Jack to tell me story,' he said looking up at Jack with big brown eyes.

'Ok, lets go in the other room.' Jack took Sam and settled him on the sofa sitting next to him. Ianto took in the wary look on Jamie's face and said.

'Don't worry, I've vetted all his stories and taken out anything inappropriate.'

'So there short stories,' joked Molly.

'It's when Sam's older I'll worry about what Jack might tell him,' said Jamie, causing the others to chuckle.

'Come we have reservations to get too. We'll pick Sam up first thing ok?' said Molly.

Ianto nodded and Molly gave him a brief hug before turning in the direction of where her son was and called, 'Night Sam, be good.' All she got in return was a small hand waving at her, he was already engrossed in what Jack was telling him. Molly and Jamie left leaving Ianto with Sam's bag. He took it into the guest room which had been converted into a room that Sam could use when he stayed over. Ianto then went into the kitchen making coffee for himself and Jack, and getting some milk for Sam. He then settled down on the other side of Sam and listened to what Jack was saying and couldn't help but smile at the look of wonder of Sam's face. Sam thought Jack was a great storyteller, little did he know most of what he was being told was true. Ianto loved these moments, he loved his job, they all did, but once in a while it was nice to be normal.


End file.
